


Bait and Switch

by calibratingentropy



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alien Biology, Alien Cultural Differences, Alien Gender/Sexuality, Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Betrayal, Breeding Kink, Dubious Consent, Keith & Shiro (Voltron) are Adoptive Siblings, Keith Believes He's Intersex, Keith has Galra Reproductive Anatomy, M/M, Manipulation, Mpreg, POV Alternating, Past Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Power Imbalance, Quad-sexed Ovoviviparous Marsupial Galra, Sexual Harassment, Threats of Rape/Non-Con, pre-redemption arc
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-11
Updated: 2018-05-11
Packaged: 2019-05-05 08:29:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 24,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14614095
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calibratingentropy/pseuds/calibratingentropy
Summary: Haxus had a promising career under a respected Commander, honor and glory, a fit and adoring partner, and a chance to continue his lineage. Then Voltron happened and everything was lost.One by one, Keith had lost everything that mattered. His mom, his dad, his foster brother and his future with the Garrison. Then Voltron happened and so much was gained.It starts with an arrogant, hurtful assumption by Sendak and a split-second decision of dubious wisdom. It's supposed to be a simple ruse to stall for time that Haxus discovers isn't simple at all. It ends in a switch.It starts with a scent on the breeze and a moment of compassion. It's bad decision after bad decision and Keith knows it. It ends with a switch.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Continuity-wise, this has no relation to The Rites of Courtship, but Galra biology/reproduction/culture, and Keith's AU pre-canon backstory are the same as in that fic. This was written to explore brooding sex from the perspective of somebody who actually knows what they're doing, and also to take a look at how this AU Galra Empire handles things like hybrids and prejudice. The 'sexual harassment' and 'power imbalance' tags are there mostly because of the way Sendak treats Haxus in this, and the implication that similar treatment happens frequently in the fleet and is swept under the rug.
> 
> Tagging it dubious consent because while both parties are really into the actual sex, there are ulterior motives and extenuating circumstances that make things a little murky. Haxus isn't irredeemable in this but he also isn't _nice_. Keith just has issues. 
> 
> The POV alternates between Keith and Haxus so the readers get to at least be aware of what's going on in both their heads. 
> 
> Also! This is before the reveal of Pidge's gender in canon, so while Shiro and Keith both know she's a woman who also identifies female, they both use male pronouns for her still. Haxus makes some incorrect assumptions because he doesn't know how humans work. The pronouns Haxus starts out using for Keith are actually the correct Galran pronouns for Keith's sex, but Haxus switches to male as soon as he realizes Keith identifies male. 
> 
> I make no apologies for how punny the title is. None.

The sentries he was piecing together from scavenged scrap were nonfunctional, but Haxus doubted the primitive natives would even notice, as long as they appeared operational from a distance. He jammed a stick into the joint of one, and the other end into a partial leg. It would do, especially when the bombs he’d be planting later went off. 

“Haxus, what _is_ that I smell coming off of you?” Sendak, approaching from behind, voice low and gravelly with interest. 

“Nothing important, sir.” Haxus knew that Sendak _knew_ , and had no desire to anger his Commander with perceived weakness. “My partner and I had saved enough to hire a professional carrier, so I’ve been off my contraceptives. It will not interfere with our mission.” 

“That I don’t doubt, even for a moment. You’ve always been the best of my crew,” Sendak murmured, and Haxus stood when a hand (flesh, thankfully), curled around the front of his throat. “No need for _waste_. Once we’ve conquered the Castle Ship and obtained the Lions, I’ll breed you myself. The scent of your fertility and pleasure will go far to obliterate the stench of the Alteans and Paladins that I’m sure permeates the place.” 

Haxus lowered his head, giving Sendak access to the scent his Commander apparently wanted, clinging to his own neck. He suppressed the urge to snap at the breath that ruffled his fur, because Sendak was not his chosen partner. It was a useless gesture and would probably get him accused of insubordination. If Sendak wished to breed him, Haxus couldn’t refuse. He couldn’t even deny that a Commander of Sendak’s status made him a good choice for sire. His partner had perished in the first explosions of Voltron’s attack besides (if only he’d had even one more shift with his partner, then he could be more sure of having at least one egg sired by him instead of a maybe at best). It _would_ be a waste. But none of those very compelling reasons to accept the situation had him looking forward to the prospect. In fact, the agreement that Haxus knew was expected tried to stick in his throat.

“It would be an honor, sir.”

* * *

Keith didn’t want to be rude, but the Arusians smelled weird. He didn’t like it, and after all the fights recently, Keith was pretty sure he was starting to feel… territorial. There wasn’t another word for it, and it was really only a small blip on the Keith-weirdness scale, as Shiro had liked to call it back— Back before everything. 

Since he couldn’t get the Arusians out of the Castle, Keith left, seeking out Shiro’s familiar scent, warm and solid, and so very stressed. He wanted to soothe it, but hell if he knew how. Shiro smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. It helped. 

“Too many people?” Shiro asked, not quite smiling. 

“Too many smells,” Keith shot back. He trusted Shiro with his life, and Shiro knew about his weird supersensitive nose. “The Arusians smell so weird, Shiro; it’s awful. And that drink, ugh!” 

“C’mere and clear your nose then,” Shiro actually laughed, just a little, and Keith was in a headlock. 

“The BO, it’s too much. No, I’m too young to die—“ Keith struggled on principle, really, laughing along, but abandoned it after a moment just to breathe. Shiro let him up into a proper hug, and he returned the favor by combing his fingers through Shiro’s hair. It always felt nice, soothing, to have his hair played with and to play with Shiro’s in return. 

They were quiet for a moment, and then Shiro cleared his throat. “But speaking of smells…” 

“If you’re asking if I know about Pidge, yeah. Don’t worry; I won’t go putting my foot in my mouth where input from my nose and my eyes not matching up is concerned. I’m not a dumb teenager anymore.” 

“Well, technically,” Shiro started to drawl, but speak of the devil! 

Pidge waved at them, looking and smelling serious and a little conflicted. Whatever Pidge had to say, it was important, and probably not nice. Especially if Pidge was asking to talk to everyone at once. Keith was about to follow them inside, but suddenly the wind shifted and that _smell_. Sizzling musk and so very _pleasant_. 

Keith stopped and turned in the direction it was coming from, knowing he probably looked dumb, mouth hanging open and breathing deep through his nose like that. It smelled kind of like the Galra ship had on some level, except the Galra ship hadn’t been pleasant. 

“Keith?” Shiro, sounding concerned. 

“Just a weird smell; I wanna check it out.” Keith started to jog in the direction of the smell. “I’ll be right behind you.” 

Shiro called out, but there was a _person_ behind the rocks, running away. Feeling concerned, and more than a little angry (yeah, definitely territorial), at the thought of someone hiding and watching, Keith vaulted the rock. The person was already bounding down the steep incline, and Keith picked up his pace—

He finally got a good look at the profile in the moonlight. _Galra_!

* * *

The Paladins, from what he and Sendak had gathered in their surveillance, were all the same small, weak-looking species as the Champion. Haxus knew better than to think they were as weak as they looked, of course, because the Champion had been the most impressive specimen he’d had the fortune to watch in the arena in quite a while. So smelling something almost _Galra_ when the Red one came out to talk with the Champion was a surprise. 

Must be a half-breed, but Haxus couldn’t figure out how a Galra had gotten into contact with that planet for long enough to produce an obviously adult, from the scent, offspring. The only contact with that system he’d ever heard of, before the recent exploratory patrols that had brought them the Champion and then found and promptly lost the Blue Lion, had been lost to mechanical failure with only a single survivor limping back to the fleet in a pod. But the mystery was for later, because the Green one had arrived, and with them (her? him? Haxus didn’t know the species’ scent well enough to be sure) the repurposed drone. Perfect. 

He was so pleased with his work that he almost missed the half-breed turning towards his location. Only instinctive hyper-awareness at a change in the direction of the breeze even prompted Haxus to look and he knew immediately that he had to retreat. 

It wasn’t going well, because he had to stop and send off the bomb drone and it slowed him down enough that the half-breed was bearing down on him now, weapon extending to a sword. Haxus drew his own sword, grimacing. This wasn’t going as planned—

The half-breed was _good_ and fought like a Galra besides, but neither of them were on particularly good footing. The outcropping the Castle had been half buried in was steep sided and prone to crumbling, so Haxus had to keep more than half his attention on his footing. A dangerous distraction when the half-breed was so determined to kill him. 

He parried, thinking hard. He was _not_ going to die here, but at the same time, he needed to keep the half-breed busy so a tactical retreat or allowing the same was out of the question. An alert sent to the group about his presence would make the distraction he’d planned worthless. Even if Sendak thought it was so, Haxus doubted they’d leave the Castle unprotected to go help others when a known enemy had been spotted on their doorstep. 

Haxus could feel the pleasant burn of pushing his muscles to their limits as he dodged and scrambled up in an attempt to find higher ground, and he grudgingly had to admit that on this footing, the half-breed had him at least matched, if not bettered. He wished abruptly that he hadn’t gone off his contraceptives, because of _course_ it made his thrice damned instincts sit up and pay attention, and arousal curl bright and undeniable in his gut.

The half-breed snarled. “Why are you here? What are your plans?!” 

Why would they even ask? Foolish to expect him to spill without even torture. Haxus had to laugh at the absurdity, and it was his undoing. The half-breed’s sword caught the hilt of his and it was let it go, or lose his balance and fall to sure injury in the process of keeping it. Then the half-breed was crowding close, sword at Haxus’s neck, and giving off the wonderfully spicy earthy notes of arousal strung thick through their scent. 

Another switch, on the opposite end of the fertility cycle, and Haxus couldn’t smell even a _hint_ of contraceptives. The back of his brain, throne of instincts that didn’t at all listen to logic, was already whispering how pleasant it would be to spread his legs for the half-breed, get threaded full, and start on the ecstatic work of making sure all his eggs were fertilized. Haxus hated the back of his brain right now. (But at least he had an answer for how he would be able to find some eagerness for Sendak when the time came. Sparring would be all too easy to accomplish.)

The sword pressed harder against his neck, but the half-breed’s snarl was undermined, breathy and almost hesitant. “Answer me!” 

Haxus was _not_ going to die like this, but he’d always been one for winning by stealth or trickery if brute strength wouldn’t carry the day, and all he really needed to do was keep the half-breed from leaving, and from making good on the threat of the sword. Perhaps he could use his condition, and the obvious, confused desire written all over the half-breed’s features and thickening their scent so potently. 

“I yield!” Haxus tipped his head back just a little, not even having to work to make himself sound equally breathless. It was equally easy to let his want to escape from the inevitability of being bred by Sendak make the words true enough. “I didn’t come to fight. I came to escape—“

* * *

What the fuck was wrong with him? It hadn’t really mattered at first, but now that Keith had disarmed the Galra he was almost painfully aware of being turned on. It had to be the other’s scent, he decided, tangy musk that could only be described as wet and sizzling hot, that made him just want to bury his nose in it and never move again. Why the hell did the _enemy_ smell so good? 

And did the Galra _really_ think Keith was dumb enough to fall for that? “Like I’d really believe that. Tell me the truth.” 

Except Keith didn’t smell lies. Maybe the Galra smelled different when they lied. The Galra took another breath, shaky, and tipped his head even further back, exposing more of that throat and Keith wondered if it’d feel soft if he—

Fuck. 

“It’s true. I— My commander intends to breed me by force. My partner just _died_ , because of you, but I can’t say no to him. I’ll be punished and he’ll breed me anyway.” The Galra’s voice was thick, words quick and rushed. 

Still no lie scent and Keith thought he smelled pain, grief maybe?, and his stomach turned at it. He’d seen the leader, Sendak or whatever, and he looked like a huge brute. Keith could so easily imagine Sendak being _that_ kind of asshole. (Questions about how a Galra that looked like a guy could be _bred_ would have to wait until later.) But that didn’t mean he was about to trust the Galra one bit, even if he felt a dark burst of empathy crackling jagged through him. “So you come to your enemies, the people you tried to kill _first_ , for what? If you think you’ll get sympathy…” 

“More than from him,” the Galra replied dryly, “I’ve yielded, and I can prove my sincerity.” 

Keith couldn’t argue with the first part, and he wanted to step back and cross his arms, because this was way too convenient, and he just couldn’t imagine a Galra turning to their side. But he knew if he let the Bayard dip even a little, he’d probably get those claws in his face. “Yeah? How?”

* * *

The half-breed wasn’t killing him yet; that was progress. Haxus was still disgusted with the back of his brain for being so _eager_ about this, but it was easy to give it reign, to color his tone and his scent. He let his stance shift, thighs parting in welcome, and inwardly cursed that he’d _had_ to find a compatible partner in a male instead of a female or another switch. Brooding urges were so terribly _insistent_ and if this worked, he might even have to flush out his eggs, because there was no way Haxus was returning to the fleet with the shame of having conceived under a half-breed, no matter how impressive they were. There was no guarantee that his impeccable record and exemplary service to the Empire would keep him from getting forced into the bordellos. Even a little risk of that was too much risk.

“You’ve proven yourself a worthy partner, and I can _scent_ how strongly you desire me. Without my partner, I’d rather someone _I_ choose than being forced by my Commander.” Haxus wasn’t going to think about how true that statement was. He’d simply never had any interest in Sendak, in spite of his Commander’s many accomplishments and attractiveness. Better a lesser soldier of his own choice. 

The half-breed was so easy to read. Confusion, desire, disbelief, _desire_. Their scent was potent, and Haxus had to fight down the idle thought that he’d most certainly _enjoy_ the shame thoroughly if it came to that. But it probably wouldn’t. The bomb-drone was inside the Castle now, and it surely wouldn’t be much longer before it reached its destination. He just needed to keep the half-breed too focused on him to call for backup for a little longer and preferably with that sword away from his throat. 

“You tell me your partner or whatever is dead, that Sendak asshole plans to rape you, and then you start coming onto me? How stupid do you think I am?” 

The sword pressed— Perhaps he’d misjudged, oh damn— 

The sword halted and withdrew slightly. The half-breed was scowling at him, impressive in their refusal of their own obvious wants. Haxus could see the shape of the half-breed’s cock pressing into the body-suit of their armor, and his canal clenched down around nothing in traitorous desire for it. 

“Look,” the half-breed hissed, clearly fighting the urge to clench their thighs together for some pressure against their unsheathed cock, “if you really _are_ sincere about coming to us for help, which I doubt, I can escort you back to the others, and you can tell us all you know about Sendak’s plans and whereabouts. But I’m really not gonna fall for something so obvious. You’d probably bite my throat out in the middle or something.” 

Haxus shuddered. While he could technically do that or similar, the thought of having a corpse’s cock threaded into him was _foul_. But he couldn’t let himself be taken to the others. One Paladin, especially so burdened by their desire, he could escape from in the chaos after the bomb went off, but Haxus wasn’t about to wager on his chances against the whole group plus the Champion. He just needed an excuse— “The Alteans will kill me the moment I’m in their sight. I’m not a fool either, Paladin.” 

“They—“ the half-breed snapped their mouth tightly closed, grumbled an annoyed vocalization through clenched teeth, and then sighed, “fine, they’d probably consider it, but Shiro wouldn’t allow that. He’s the most noble of all of us.” 

“I don’t want to _die_ ,” Haxus fired back. Where was the explosion? Had the drone been caught? But there was no alarm. “I can’t, I won’t, risk going to them without some kind of…insurance.” 

The half-breed’s voice was flat, annoyed, and the scent of it was actually starting to overpower the desire. “What do you mean by insurance?”

* * *

Keith really wished his conscience hadn’t stood in the way when he’d had that moment of just wanting to slice the Galra’s head off. It would have been much simpler, but no, he couldn’t bring himself to do it. It was like the Galra was stalling, and that was enough to cool the want. A little bit. What was he really after? It was almost like the Galra just really wanted to have sex with Keith (and wanting to have sex with another _species_ was suspect, on top of it being Keith because no one ever wanted _him_ , just what they thought was him), because Keith swore the scent that reminded him of his own arousal was getting stronger by the minute. It was really hard not to glance down, check to see if the Galra’s dick was pressing against the armor bodysuit the way Keith’s was. 

The Galra actually looked away, shifting his weight. Keith tried not to look down, he did, but saw those legs (probably rock hard muscle and why was that such a turn on?) spread further. But the Galra was speaking, voice tight. “I don’t think they would risk the future offspring of one of the Paladins, even barely conceived. Even part Galra. That is… all I can think of, I admit.” 

Okay, back to the ‘really wanted to have sex with Keith’ theory, and it was mind-boggling, but at the same time, fucking hot. Why the _hell_ did Keith suddenly find somebody who turned him on so much but it just _had_ to be the enemy?

“Did you just come out here to have sex with one of us or something? What, are you in heat?” Keith felt a little stupid just for asking, but the words were out. 

“ _Heat_ is for lesser species. I’m brooding,” the Galra began with a sneer, but then went cautious, almost, “and forming eggs is such a heavy investment that I don’t— I should just let my Commander have his way so I don’t lose them.” 

Keith could hear the ‘but’ left unsaid. He even kinda got the idea of not wanting to lose a chance at kids that this Galra had obviously wanted. It didn’t answer the big question. “Why me?” 

“I didn’t come here planning any such thing. I was just scouting to see if I could find a way to approach your group without risk to me.” The Galra was moving his hands, very slowly and obviously, not up to the Bayard like Keith would have expected, but a featherlight touch to his hips. It made Keith shiver, and he almost missed what the Galra said next. “But you’ve defeated me in combat, proven your skill, your prowess and virility, and now I ache to be filled even more than I already did. None of your other allies have come close to that, except perhaps the Champ—Black Paladin.” 

The thought of this Galra panting after Shiro, forcing him to endure something like that after he was their prisoner for so long, dragged a low growl out of Keith’s chest, buzzing and croaking away like a chainsaw and a raven crossed with a very angry cat. The sound shocked Keith so much that he stepped back, and the surprise stopped it cold. The Galra backed up abruptly too, and for the first time, Keith saw what he’d assumed were ears move, folding back against his head. So they _were_ ears. 

Then the Galra tipped his head to the side, expression making Keith feel naked. “Is he your partner, then? Is that why you resist when I can scent how desperately you desire me?” 

Ugh! No! “Gross! He’s my— He’s family!” Keith snapped, and immediately regretted it. Now the Galra had something to use against him.

* * *

Haxus was no expert on how the Champion’s species aged so maybe he’d guessed wrong at placing the Champion as a young adult in his prime, but the druids had determined that the Champion was certainly male, and had guessed that the species were placentals. Those facts left the only options for family as sire, or perhaps pouch-mate. Although, he supposed it was closer to the long abandoned concept of siblings, dating from back before the Emperor had instituted the creches and children were sent to them as soon as they were weened, never to know any relatives but their own pouch-mates (if that), barring genetic scans. 

Whichever option, the half-breed was dazzlingly protective of the Champion, and to Haxus’s mortification, it increased his arousal tenfold. Such fierce protectiveness was so desirable in a sire, even if parents rarely had any involvement in their offspring’s lives anymore. 

“So protective of your kin, even more reason—“ Haxus let himself groan that, but wasn’t about to make any move that could be construed as aggressive. He’d seen personally the results of evict or eviscerate responses before, and even if it wasn’t actually one, it came awfully close to have inspired that signature growl. He had no desire to risk his limbs and organs being sliced from him until he was very, very _dead_. 

“You’re really gonna stick to the wanting me story?” The half-breed was still struggling with desire and disbelief. It was almost like they couldn’t believe they were sexually attractive, which was ridiculous, even if they _were_ nothing more than a half-breed. 

“Why _wouldn’t_ I? You’re pleasing to look at, have a very alluring scent, and are displaying all the best attributes of a good sire. And then you defeated me in combat.” Haxus tipped his head to the side again, and arched his back. It put the line of his neck on display, tempting sampling, touch, exchange. The few places where the scent producing cells in the skin were similarly heavily concentrated were mostly covered by the armor, but never the neck. Hidden behind protective gorgets, but never _covered_. Scent was the most important nonverbal communication, and blocking the source would make any Galra uneasy. Surely the exposure would reel the half-breed back in. 

It looked like it was working, but then the half-breed knelt to scoop up Haxus’s sword. “I’m flattered, I guess? But I’m not interested.” 

_Obvious lie_. But the half-breed continued on boldly, acting like Haxus wouldn’t even notice or something. “I’ll take you up to the others, and I swear I’ll protect you from harm, as long as you don’t make any threatening moves to anybody. We’ll work this out; figure out what to do for you and what you can do for us.”

That wasn’t a lie in the least. The bomb still hadn’t gone off, and Haxus could think of no other reason than malfunction or capture of the drone. He’d have to go in and do it personally then, and here he was with another way in. Risky, but but victory or death. Haxus bowed his head and clasped his hands in front of him, trying to project defeat. “What choice do I have?” 

The half-breed didn’t answer, just gestured with their sword. Haxus began walking, working his clawtip into his brace. He couldn’t send an audio message, but he had something just in case he was ever put in shackles. Little wiggles against a particular circuit transmitted a simple code that Sendak was sure to notice. 

_—bomb compromised stop infiltrating under guise of needing asylum stop will update soon with new timetable stop—_

* * *

Keith had been almost surprised that the Galra had agreed, after all the hitting on him, but glad. He didn’t know if he could keep going, because _damn_ that smell. It was so strong now, and every time Keith got a glance at the Galra’s neck (he shouldn’t think it was pretty) he wanted to bury his face there and just breathe. He was going to need to retreat to his room and jerk off, and he was worried everyone would see his dick out and how _wet_ he’d gotten with just a glance. At least no one else would be able to smell him, because he knew he smelled like sex right now. 

Except apparently the Galra. Who was behaving except for being tense as a drawn bow and the occasional sigh. Getting back up to the entrance turned out to be an exercise in frustration, because Keith sure as hell wasn’t about to put his Bayard away, and predictably, all the Arusians started yelling and scattered when they appeared over the edge. Keith put a hand firmly on the Galra’s shoulder, shoved his Bayard against the guy’s throat again and told him to hold still. 

Sure enough, everyone came rushing outside, weapons drawn. Keith tried to smile but ended up grimacing instead. “Hey guys, look what I found.” 

“Keith,” Shiro looked like he wanted to put his face in his hands, “if that’s what you were doing, why didn’t you call for backup?” 

Keith tried to radiate calm, but the comment made him feel tense and a little guilty. “There really wasn’t time, and I didn’t have my helmet besides.” 

The Galra looked at him side-eyed but didn’t say anything, and naturally everyone else took the opportunity to bombard them with questions. Keith couldn’t get a word in edge-wise, and stopped trying, and sure enough Shiro barked an order to stand down and everybody went quiet. 

Keith fought the urge to put a hand to his temples; this was going to end up with him suffering from a headache, he just knew it. “So! I caught him hiding over there, and disarmed him, and he claims that he was planning on having kids, but his partner died, and now that asshole Sendak wants to rape him and breed him, I guess. If he’s telling the truth, I figured we could get some information out of him, and if not…” 

Keith shrugged. Killing the Galra still didn’t sit _right_ with him, exactly, but now the Galra was outmatched. They could keep him prisoner instead, and dump him somewhere once they left Arus. 

Pidge was fidgeting, glasses flashing in the light and _two_ green Galra drones floated up to flank him (Keith wasn’t going to let Shiro down just because of nose dissonance, even if he was starting to wonder why Pidge was using male pronouns) like bodyguards. “So, I’m guessing our new guest is the reason I’ve got a Rover 2.0 now? When I caught it, I reprogrammed it and disarmed the bomb that was inside it. Sending it in right in front of me was… either really desperate, or asking to be caught, honestly.”

* * *

Haxus wasn’t surprised, but that didn’t mean it was good news. He’d been hoping for a malfunction. He sighed again, leaning subtly towards the half-breed. Making them feel protective of him was something he wanted to achieve. “My Commander ordered me to get the drone into the Castle. It was to map the interior, and once he’d launched his attack on the native village to lure as many of you as possible out, to explode and kill or maim the rest. I… lingered after completing that task. I didn’t wish to return.” 

There was enough truth included, that Haxus was hoping the half-breed—Keith, Haxus should use the name from now on—wouldn’t scent a lie. The Paladins started arguing all at once, but the Blue one was loud enough to be heard over the din. “Okay, wait! Time out guys! His story doesn’t add up! Why would a _guy_ have to worry about some breeding thing? The rape thing I totally get, but guy, breeding— something’s not adding up right.” 

“I can help clear that up,” the male Altean announced, not smelling as disgusted and on edge as Haxus would have imagined, “Galra reproduction can actually get quite complicated. They have four sexes and… Well, to simplify things a bit, I’m fairly sure our new acquaintance is what’s called a switch, and currently fertile in what for most species would be the female way.” 

The look he got sent asked him to confirm and Haxus bit back something insulting. “Yes, I’m a switch and currently brooding.” 

The scents of curiosity increased enough to nearly be a _stench_ and why was the ha—Keith smelling of curiosity too? Keith hadn’t moved, but Haxus could almost see muscles tightening, ready to attack or defend. “Can we prove it? Back up that part of his story.” 

“Why a simple scan would take care of that in two ticks!” the male Altean answered brightly. The Princess, standing beside him smelled of disgust and distrust, and barely contained fury but said nothing, communicating only with her cold expression.

At least it stopped the questions. Haxus did _not_ feel inclined to educate a bunch of inferior aliens on how a real species reproduced. But they were all (of _course_ ) heading up to what was apparently the Castle’s infirmary, after putting shackles on Haxus. He didn’t begrudge it, and if he could get tools, he could probably break his way out of them. 

The scan took longer than two ticks (the Altean word felt unfamiliar in his mouth, even if the time measurement was the same). Once it was completed and his status confirmed (three healthy eggs awaiting a sire; a good number for a switch. But too soon to tell if any had caught already.) Haxus had thought the indignity would end, but no, the Green one demanded all his armor to be checked over for trackers and viruses and other hidden offensive capabilities. 

It was commendable, but still a very frustrating setback. Haxus bared his teeth. “I will _not_ submit to being naked.” 

He was offered clothes, and pointed out dryly that he couldn’t very well undress while shackled. A guard was insisted upon even as the room was locked from the outside, even with his impending undressing, and Haxus asked for Keith. That desire could still be exploited as a weakness, and if he had to endure someone watching him undress, better it be a half-breed than not Galra at all. (He was ignoring that the back of his brain _wanted_ to display his fitness for Keith.)

The annoyance of it all had decreased his arousal enough for his cock to re-sheath, but slick was not so easily dismissed, and his body was so _eager_ for a dexterous cock right now. Haxus wiped at it with the provided cleaning cloth with resignation; he’d surely end up wetting his thighs with his need again soon. 

The scent of desperate arousal almost wasn’t enough to make him look up. He knew it was asking for things he shouldn’t be considering right now. Haxus still looked up to meet Keith’s gaze, helplessly staring at the apex of his thighs. 

“You really _do_ want… me.” Keith’s voice, and their scent, was colored with something Haxus thought was close to awe. It made him want to lean back on the exam table and spread his thighs. Keith would surely come, so worshipful, trilling a delightful melody of want. The shame, and intruding ears, was probably not worth the ecstasy.

* * *

“I don’t understand why you still doubt,” the Galra said, pulling on something that Coran had dug up from somewhere. It was more of a vest than a shirt, and came with tight pants, in soft, stretchy fabric. Practical. No way to hide _anything_ , and few options to turn it into a weapon or distraction. 

Keith finally tore his eyes away from that purple fur (definitely fur, not skin) so fine and soft looking and gleaming _wet_. He was reminded so strongly of his own moments of being driven to play with his own too painfully small hole, even knowing a finger or two would never be enough to fill the craving for a dick he wasn’t even able to _take_ , and how he ended up smearing slick all down his thighs and over his hands. Fuck. He needed to jerk off so bad right now. Knowing that he, Keith, was wanted. Knowing that someone found him sexy and wouldn’t know his anatomy was abnormal. He eyed the exam table, wondering— Bad thought. 

If he was going to be honest with himself, he probably needed a name to be groaning when he came. Calling the guy ‘the Galra’ in his head really wasn’t fair either. “So, I guess you’re not actually lying; what’s your name?” 

“Haxus,” the Gal—Haxus answered with a smirk as he sauntered close, looking… good. 

Keith grabbed the shackles to fasten around obediently extended wrists. In hindsight, he really should have expected something. He _had_ expected something, just… not a cheek brushing against his, and long, strong fingers loosely circling his wrist and caressing upward. The scent, the _feeling_ — Keith was sure his eyes had rolled up into his head for a second, and was surprised he didn’t come right in his armor. Why the fuck was something so simple so hot?

Haxus’s voice was warm and far too intimate in his ear. “If not for your allies watching, I would pull you snug between my thighs, right now.”

Then he was standing back at a reasonable distance, leaving Keith shivering and letting out that peculiar whine (chirp) from his chest, that as far as he knew was unique to him. Keith hated everything in that moment, and had to clear his throat twice before he hit the comm. His voice still sounded strained. “He’s dressed and in cuffs, let us out.” 

Shiro answered. “Keith, you okay? You sound a little… uh—“ 

“I’m fine. Just need some alone time, probably.” That was such a lie, and Keith ignored Haxus snorting in barely constrained laughter at it. 

The door was opened and Keith bumped his shoulder against Shiro in reassurance that he hoped would come across as he passed, knowing that if somebody looked down… “Be in my room if anybody needs me.” 

There were protests, but Keith ignored them as he stalked down the hallway. His room seemed so _far_ and he barely palmed the door shut before falling to his knees and getting his armor far enough off to get a hand around his dick. He pressed his nose to his forearm, still reeking of Haxus, and came on the second squeeze, right behind the head of his dick. The bumps on the tip quivered as he squirted thin come over his hand and his dick twitched and writhed in his fingers. 

Keith slumped back, shaking, and already desperate for more. At least he hadn’t whimpered Haxus’s name when he’d come. (He’d just wanted to.) “What the fuck.”

* * *

Haxus knew better than to laugh as Keith stalked away, thighs pressed tight as if to hide their need. Foolish, because even if most species were nose-blind, compared to Galra, Haxus was sure the scent was strong enough for anyone to pick up on. 

That he’d also had to hold back the urge to chirp and call Keith back to satisfy his own need was only somewhat worrying. He’d hold it in reserve, keep teasing (both of them), just in case he needed a seduction to gain enough freedom to damage the crystal on the bridge, but he wasn’t going to give in simply because he ached for it. He wasn’t going to waste his eggs. Three had been more than he’d been expecting, and a few moments of pleasure wasn’t worth the shame. He’d have to flush them if he let Keith take him, because even the tiny risk of a single egg catching was too much risk (and there was still a minuscule chance one could have caught from his partner). Sendak was the far superior choice. 

Just _why_ was he still balking at it? Perhaps Haxus could convince Sendak to hold off; there was no way to do genetic scans here (probably). They’d be back with the fleet well before his brooding period ended, and there were plenty of officers that would leap at the chance to fill in for Haxus’s lost partner. Perhaps it was just the lack of choice that was bothering Haxus. (It couldn’t be that, because technically Haxus had a choice _now_.) 

But the other Paladins were all staring at him, and Champion neither looked nor smelled pleased. He was worried for his kin, that much Haxus could tell, and suspected Haxus of being the cause. Well, Haxus _was_ the cause of Keith’s desire, but he hardly considered that a negative thing. Haxus just shrugged back. 

The Blue one was making a gesture towards his (probably; he had a similar scent to Champion) eyes and then pointing at Haxus. He must have been missing out on some cultural nuance to explain it. Haxus shrugged again, inwardly pleased that the gesture sent indignation thick through the Blue one’s scent.

It was the Yellow one, thick-bodied like a healthy carrier but also smelling similar to Champion, that spoke up. “So… uh, not to rush things or anything, but where are we gonna put him? Because I for one don’t really trust leaving him to run around the Castle or anything.” 

“Well, there’s the brig,” the male Altean answered, “but that deck suffered a great deal of battle damage before we landed on Arus. It wouldn’t be very comfortable, if anything works at all down there.” 

“He’ll survive,” was the Princess’s cold response.

“Why not in one of the bedrooms?” the Green one asked, “It wouldn’t be hard at all to program the door panels to lock him out so he couldn’t get out unless one of us let him out. Repurpose one of the surveillance cameras to make sure he isn’t planning to attack when we open up and it’d be pretty secure.” 

“Good suggestion, Pidge.” Champion’s voice was commanding, but also full of a warm approval that Haxus didn’t find as weak as he should have. “Get on it.” 

“Give me five minutes!” And off the Green one went, calling over their shoulder as they went. “Hey Coran, want to help? It’ll go faster with the two of us.” 

The Princess smelled furious. “I don’t think this is a good idea. If not the brig, then a cryo-pod.” 

“With all due respect, Princess, we’re going to treat him humanely.” Firm, and more than that, _sincere_. 

Haxus couldn’t help the surprise that settled over his expression and flooded his scent. The Princess jerked back like she’d been hit. “He’s Galra!” 

Champion went tense. “And if we treat him like the Galra treat their prisoners, we become just as bad as the Galra.” 

They cared for their enemies too? That was… It made them extremely vulnerable, but Haxus could make use of it. It was a shame he was so pressed for time, because it was so easy to imagine winning their trust and full freedoms, and then being able to plunge his sword into their backs. Easy but not comfortable, for some reason.

But the Champion wasn’t done with him, fixing him with a look that radiated strength. “You agreed to give us information in return for protection. Tell us more about Sendak’s plans.” 

Without Keith present, Haxus suspected he could lie more freely. “Once I returned, the attack on the native village was supposed to begin. Any returning natives were to be taken captive, and held in a separate location to further split your forces. My Commander and several sentries were to use the confusion to approach the Castle, and once the drone’s bomb went off, I was to retreat towards the Castle, and place further explosives along the bridge to cut off reinforcements once the strategy was inevitably discovered. Once all Paladins within the Castle were subdued, I was to break into the network and reprogram the system, and then we would take off as soon as possible to deliver the Lions to the fleet.” 

The Yellow one lifted a hand. “But that wouldn’t have worked. Because you wouldn’t have the Lions. It’s way quicker to reach the village in a Lion, and if there was an attack, the extra firepower always comes in handy.” 

That was why the real plan was to destroy the Castle’s crystal, to cut power and prevent the Lions from being taken, but Haxus wasn’t about to reveal _that_ or that they’d salvaged the crystal from Sendak’s ship. He ducked his head, drawing into himself, and hoped they’d interpret the body language as defeated and hurt pride. “Commander Sendak was certain that my force would be able to kill or maim any Paladin who responded to the ruse. And he certainly could overpower anyone who remained.” 

Champion had his arms crossed over his chest. “We can be prepared for that, and since you’re not returning, it puts Sendak at a severe disadvantage. Now, what exactly do you want out of this arrangement?” 

Haxus couldn’t help feeling a little proud that he’d been estimated as so vital to Sendak, but the question had him pausing. What should he say? Better to go with essentially the truth for that. “I… would wish for safe passage to the fleet, so I can locate a sire of my choice and return to serve the Empire, but I’m aware that betraying my Commander removes that option. So I don’t know. I don’t want to waste my eggs, but—“ 

He sighed, trying to gauge the reactions. The Princess was predictably still cold and furious, but none of the others smelled of disbelief. In fact, Haxus smelled sympathy. He could use it if he needed to, but for now he needed time to think and plan. “For now, water, food, and someplace to rest will be enough in return.” 

“We can manage that much,” Champion said. “Follow me; Pidge and Coran should be done getting the door lock set.” 

What else could he do? Haxus followed. Champion was quiet for a while, but didn’t smell pleased. Finally, Champion made a small, frustrated sound. “I want to believe that you mean what you’re saying, but I saw how uncomfortable Keith was when you two came out of there. What did you do?” 

“I told them that they had proven themself a worthy sire.” Haxus gritted his teeth. “As shameful as it is, it’s true. I don’t want to lose my eggs. I should have just let my Commander have his way but I didn’t… I want to be able to choose the sire; I wish my partner hadn’t been killed.” 

“He,” Champion said, “Keith identifies male. And why would you—“ For a long moment, Champion’s gaze was almost blank and his scent filled with the particular sour note that said remembered fear. “A lot of the ones I fought, the skilled ones. They were part Galra, weren’t they?” 

“Or had produced half-breeds, yes. It’s shameful, and risks careers to willingly conceive under another species, and many half-breeds or those shamed by carrying them are forced into the arena.” Or into the bordellos, but Haxus didn’t think that fact would improve his standing with Champion. The other fact wasn’t even worth commenting on, being quite common for switches. Keith’s word choices didn’t say he identified male, but Haxus suspected it was a fault of the language Keith and the Champion shared. Translators were far from infallible. Now that he knew, Haxus had no reason to avoid changing it. But he was reminded— “What about the Green one? I can’t determine them by scent.” 

Champion blinked, surprised. “Also he. And… you’re talking about it being a shame, but you’re still considering it?” 

Haxus drew in on himself again, hating to admit it, but it wasn’t a lie either. “Both you and he have proven yourselves more worthy than many Galra and I don’t want to lose my eggs. It’s a shame, but I— It’s one that I don’t think I could regret.” 

The pleasure of it, at least. He might even feel a little regret at flushing his eggs after (ignoring that that was probably a severe underestimation right now). And if for some reason he couldn’t, which Haxus knew he had to consider a possibility, there was a decent chance that offspring sired by Keith would appear Galra enough to be given a chance to prove themselves, and he wouldn’t be the only one who’d considered the Champion for a sire in a moment of weakness. 

“Wait, _me_?” 

Haxus had to laugh. “Yes, you. You’re the Champion; your prowess and virility is not the least in doubt. If you were Galra, you would have switches and females lining up for you to sire for them.”

“Shiro. I’m not your Champion.” There was a long moment of silence after that, and the Champion smelled disturbed and confused. Finally he sighed. “And the answer would be no. So you asked Keith?” 

“I was concerned the Alteans would kill me on sight without another life depending on my safety. I asked before.” Haxus shrugged. “He didn’t believe my sincerity until he saw proof.” 

Champion… Haxus supposed he should start thinking of him as Shiro. Shiro made a choked noise in his throat and was silent until they reached a door with the Green one (Pidge, Haxus thought?) and the male Altean. 

Pidge was so much smaller than the rest, and something about their features— Ah, that must be the difference in scent; an adolescent child wouldn’t smell like an adult male. But even so, the others seemed to defer to him with technology. He smelled quite pleased with himself as he gestured to the door. “Okay, any of us can open the door from inside or out, with a scan and a voice sample, but no one else, not even one of the Arusians or something. And from the outside we can pull up the cameras to see what’s going on in there, so no ambushes or anything.” 

“Good work, Pidge.” Again that warm approval. It wasn’t long at all before Haxus was inside with the Shiro, to test the system, and Shiro gave him a stern look while undoing the shackles. “You should apologize to Keith.” 

For what? Haxus frowned. “Why?” 

“It’s not my place to say, and I won’t force you, but at least consider it?” Shiro’s scent was full of awkwardness and concern, probably for Keith. 

Haxus just made a noncommittal motion with his head and after another moment, Shiro left him. Haxus had planned on waiting until he could judge that they weren’t watching but decided he didn’t care. He settled on the bed, finding it just barely long enough, and pulled the pants off. Not having any kind of self-pleasure aid was going to leave him so frustrated, but he needed to take the edge off. Wringing a peak out of his cock should help him cool down his desire.

It only took a breath of Keith’s scent where it lingered faintly against his hand for his cock to unsheathe. Of course, without an aid, he couldn’t get the pleasure he craved because his claws would surely leave him cut up. He was almost tempted to try anyway, but took his cock between his palms, squeezing slowly, rhythmically, until a pathetically desperate chirp left his chest. Haxus tried to ignore why he was chirping like that and focus on the pleasure of his hands, but too late. The thought of Keith had broken through and he chirped again. And again, as a squeeze of the tip between the bases his thumb and forefinger sent thundering pleasure through him and he finally peaked. 

But shivering in the aftermath, Haxus realized it had done the exact opposite of taking the edge off. He swore loudly before cleaning himself up. This was going to be so torturous.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In which there is lots of sex.

The knocking startled Keith out of the half-daze he’d been in, and he scrambled to wash off his hand and get back into his armor, yelping, “just a minute.” 

He answered the door, knowing he was probably still blushing and looked disheveled. It opened to Shiro who immediately raised an eyebrow and coughed. “Am I interrupting?” 

“No, not at all. I just finished.” And that was probably not the best way to phrase things even if it was true. Keith looked away and tried to straighten his armor further. 

“Keith, you were upset. What happened with the Galra?” Shiro settled himself down, and Keith knew better than to try to get Shiro to leave. 

“Haxus.” Keith followed that up with a wince. He sounded like a someone with a crush, didn’t he? And he didn’t have a crush. Haxus just smelled so… _good_. “And it’s no big deal. He just really actually wants to have sex with me? Which makes _no_ sense, but I uh… proof. Yeah.” 

Shiro pulled him down into a hug, and ran fingers through his hair. The action and Shiro’s scent helped. It was relaxing, helping Keith feel grounded. Unfortunately, unlike kissing, it didn’t really kill the want, so Keith was very aware of the thrum of arousal pulsing through him, especially when moving brought a whiff of Haxus’s scent to him. He groaned, but returning the favor and gently scratching his nails over Shiro’s scalp was almost second nature. 

“That was… I’m sorry he did that.” Shiro sighed heavily. “How do you feel about it?” 

How did he feel? Keith didn’t really know. “Weirded out, turned on, confused as hell? I swore it was just him trying to play me until I saw it, and I’m still not sure he _isn’t_ up to something, but he smells so _good_ , Shiro. And I don’t know why. We aren’t even the same species.” 

“I can’t answer that; I don’t have super nose.” Shiro grinned, but it flickered out a second later. “I think… I think he’s terrified, honestly. He had a career and was planning on starting a family, and then we blew that all out of the sky, and then his superior who he should be able to trust with his life destroys that trust in the most sinister way by intending to rape him. And then—“

Keith winced. It made so much sense when Shiro put it that way. “And then the only option for any kind of safety is the enemies he’s been trying to kill and doing that makes him a traitor to everything. Shit—“ 

“So he’s grasping for the one thing that hasn’t been taken away completely yet,” Shiro finished, with a heavy finality. 

“But entirely different _species._ ,” Keith muttered, trying to get his head around it. At least talking and thinking about this was helping cool him down from how turned on he’d been. Mostly. 

“They— Hybrids are a thing,” Shiro said, swallowing heavily, “I got another memory back, and the Galra send a lot of their hybrid offspring to the arena.”

Keith flinched, because suddenly things made so much more sense. “He must be desperate, but even if I could, if I wanted— I can’t.” 

His voice broke on the words, and different words burned in his brain. Intersex. Sterile. Doctors with false sympathy struggling to make sense of his fucked up anatomy. Being told that he’d never really enjoy sex with a dick that couldn’t get hard (at least he could _come_ from it), and a vag—hole too small and damaged by Keith’s poor choice in … Keith couldn’t even call the bastard a boyfriend, because they hadn’t dated. Not really, because letting himself be pushed into bed, into sex, before the “date” was even half over was stupid on Keith’s part. Bastard had _known_ how Keith’s girlfriend had broken up with him, heard the rumors about the top pilot cadet who wasn’t even a real boy (god did it make him sick, but she’d said that, called him a girl to all her friends) and was a sexless freak on top of it, and played him like a goddamn fiddle.

And Keith, dumbass that he’d been about it, had been too frustrated by pent up arousal that he couldn’t satisfy with his own fingers, too hurt by the accusations, and too desperate to be wanted, to feel sexy and— Well, it’d ended up with so much pain (“Stop— it hurts, _stop _!” “Don’t be a whiny bitch; it’s supposed to hurt, first time.”) and then Shiro picking him up and taking him to the hospital and all the mortification that had followed. That the bastard had gotten what he deserved for it didn’t help Keith not to still be suffering for it even now.__

A gentle, moist pressure against his forehead brought him out of it, and soothed the arousal. Shiro, knowing that a brotherly kiss would knock him out of the bad headspace and the frustrated want for sex. Keith managed a shaky smile as thanks. 

“Don’t let yourself go back there. It’s not your fault back then or now, and you’re unique and amazing. Someday you’ll find someone who appreciates you for you, little brother.” Shiro’s smile was sad though, and the hug tightened. 

Keith murmured thanks into Shiro’s shoulder and they sat quietly, Keith breathing in Shiro’s familiar and comforting scent. But it couldn’t last forever, so Keith wasn’t surprised when Shiro started shifting. “It’s getting late; why don’t you try to get some sleep? It’ll help clear your head.” 

Like hell he’d be sleeping anytime soon, but Keith nodded and let Shiro up. One last hair ruffle and Shiro was out the door, leaving Keith alone with his thoughts. 

He went through the motions of getting out of his armor and ready for bed, but his thoughts whirred in the dark. Keith couldn’t stop thinking about Haxus, about how much it must suck, how— It was too easy to imagine Sendak as essentially being exactly like that bastard, insulting, demeaning, _demanding_ , and using every little thing as leverage to force what he wanted. Sympathy crackled through him again, dark and almost painful. 

Alright, so he wasn’t sleeping. Keith sighed and gave up. He didn’t think he’d have any trouble finding where they’d stuck Haxus, not with the way his smell was like some siren call to Keith. All Keith had to do was go back to the infirmary and sniff and he’d be on the right track.

Turned out, Keith didn’t even need to go that far. Two rooms down from his, he caught the scent, almost whining (chirping) as the arousal slammed back into him. Beside the door panel, there was an inert holoscreen and Keith poked at it. What came up was a video of inside the room. Haxus was sitting on the bed, elbows on knees. Not asleep. 

This was a bad idea. This was a terrible idea. If Keith went in there, he’d probably be _stuck_. (He’d probably end up giving in, because being _wanted_ was such a good feeling.) He should go back to his room and forget about it. 

Keith put his hand to the door panel. It beeped and a mechanical version of Pidge’s voice (none of them could really _read_ the text, even if their bond with their Lions helped them get the gist of it anyway) asked for voice verification. Knowing Pidge, it wouldn’t be something as simple as just his name, but it would be something he could get intuitively. Keith paused for a moment, swallowed. He’d go with his gut.

“Keith Kogane, Red Paladin.” 

If this didn’t work, he’d go back to his room, he swore to himself. 

The door swished open. Oh _god_ —

* * *

Being left alone should have been welcome, given him time to plan. Instead, after inspecting the comm (not deactivated, but certainly monitored) and determining he could hack it when the time came to send a message to Sendak, Haxus had ended up giving up on the clothing and grooming himself. He ruined one of the towels getting his claws (all of them) as smooth and sharp as he could without the proper tools, and carefully ran damp cloths over his fur to remove surface dirt. Then began the tedious but enjoyable process of running his claws carefully through every bit of his fur to remove loose hairs and to stimulate his skin to produce oils. He followed it up by rubbing himself down, transferring and spreading the oils evenly, and encouraging muscles to relax. His back proved to be frustrating and didn’t end up entirely done, but it couldn’t be helped. He no longer had a partner to share grooming with, and certainly not the tools to do it for himself. 

Haxus returned to trying to plan after that, but ended up stretching and engaging in other exercises that could be performed in a small space. Movement felt pleasant, but pulled on a few bruises and abrasions from the crash and aftermath. He licked his fingers and carefully applied a coating of saliva to the cuts. 

And in the middle of a burst of renewed grooming, Haxus realized what he was _doing_. He was preening, making himself look fit and attractive, increasing his scent, and just generally preparing for his partner’s return. Except his partner was dead, and telling himself he wasn’t eagerly awaiting _Keith_ as a surrogate partner would be the kind of self-deception that ended up harmful. Haxus didn’t think they’d started a partner bond, but forming bonds was not entirely predictable. Now that it was more than just simple desire, a bond was a risk. 

Haxus was wondering if there was a way to reduce the chances when the door opened and Keith’s scent swept over him. Haxus watched Keith all but stumble through and chirped. Keith echoed the inviting call, smelling confused and desperate. It was enough to unsheathe his cock abruptly, and make Haxus feel ever so close to trilling. The desire had never gone away, and Haxus was feeling more than a little desperate himself. 

“Haxus, I—“ 

The roughness of Keith’s voice, stumbling hungrily over his name, made up his mind. Haxus wanted to be threaded full, and _bred_ by Keith and to hell with the shame. He’d sneak into the medical bay and flush the eggs if they didn’t appear to be developing as proper Galra. He spread his thighs, glad he’d been sitting on the bed and facing the door, and then tipped his head back to arch his neck for good measure. “I’ve been hoping you’d change your mind.”

“I shouldn’t—“ Keith chirped again, taking two stiff-legged steps closer. “I’m not even…” 

He snarled, almost close enough for Haxus to grab now. “Why the hell do I want this so much?” 

“Because I’m fertile, have proven my survival skills, my prowess in combat, and I’ve made my interest clear.” Haxus extended his hand, wanting to grab but knowing it would be much more satisfying for Keith to make the move.

* * *

This was the worst idea, but his dick was _writhing_ in his pants, probably making Keith a mess. Each breath filled him with that amazing sizzling musky scent and only made Keith want more. He just wanted to bury his nose against that pretty neck, _breathe_ , and lose himself. 

Haxus extended a hand, and this was it. Keith remembered the touch earlier, fingers curling around his wrist, and he just _knew_ that the touch was the point of no return. This was a fucking _terrible_ idea. 

Keith grabbed Haxus’s hand. So warm, solid and strong, and just the little touch sent a cascade of want down through him. His breath stuttered and another chirp wrenched its way out of him. Haxus made the _exact_ same sound proving he hadn’t mistook what he’d heard before. (What? _How?_ )

“So lithe. Your size belies your strength,” just the warm, slow rumble of Haxus’s voice was what Keith imagined a filthy deep kiss should feel like. 

He grunted as the pull had him stumbling, landing awkwardly and straddling one thigh (so big, he could feel the muscle flex between his). Fur, so smooth and dense, slid over his skin, followed by a panted breath against the crook of his neck. No, _this_ was what a kiss should feel like. Keith groaned, didn’t even bother _trying_ for the kiss that would just kill his arousal anyway, and returned the gesture. Why was rubbing his cheek and neck against Haxus so damn hot? 

Didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the heat, the fur that felt better than silk, the way breaths hissed against his ear, and painted a pattern of hot-wet, and cool-tingles against his neck. Keith arched his neck, groaning, and dragged his fingers through the fur around Haxus’s ears, just to feel it. Felt nice, good, but Haxus went pliant for a moment. Then Haxus shuddered, chirped, and hands, with long fingers and palms that felt _huge_ against him, pressed against his back, underneath his shirt. Keith felt small, but it didn’t matter, because he felt like a live-wire, and when he pushed, Haxus moved with him. The position ended up awkward as fuck, both of them half off the bed, but the deep breaths made the chest beneath his rise and fall and oh _god_ —

“Haxus—“ Keith swore instead of completing the sentence, knowing his slick was soaking through the pants by now, and when hands pushed his shirt up, up— He braced his arms, twisted, and with the help of those huge hands the shirt came off. He canted his hips forward, down, gasping at the wonderful pressure against his dick, and then again at the slippery wet when his thigh bumped Haxus’s groin. Haxus was so wet. Wet _for Keith_. “Wanna fuck you.”

* * *

The Earthling word didn’t _quite_ match up to any of the Galran words for different kinds of sex, but Haxus got the gist of it anyway. He groaned, arching his back to cant his hips just right to get a little pressure against his cock, and the entrance to his canal. He was so slick, so ready. 

But there was a problem. “Not in those. Get them off. _Now_.” 

The pants were in the way of what he wanted, and Haxus wondered briefly if he couldn’t just take his claws to them, but Keith reluctantly pulled away to push them down over his hips and thighs. As he stepped out of them, Haxus rearranged himself on the bed so they wouldn’t have to balance so precariously, and drank in the sight. 

Keith’s cock was the same odd color as his skin, but long for his size. Haxus wasn’t wild about the stretch that came from being threaded full by some of the largest males and females with their girthy cocks, so Keith’s slender length would suit him _just fine_. So fine that his canal shuddered with desperate contractions, already wanting to take that smooth cock. The only disappointment, really, was that the lobes at the tip were barely there; he wouldn’t get the delicious feeling of being massaged open before his cervix relaxed to complete the penetration. It was a shame, because that feeling was one of the best parts of sex, in his opinion. 

No matter; Keith was climbing over him, hands pressing over the markings on his chest. Haxus arched and _yessss_. Keith chirped as he rubbed himself over the markings, appreciating them as he should, but really, there would be more time for that later. Haxus wanted to be full _now_. 

“You have twenty ticks to get your cock in me before I do it for you.” Haxus got his hand tangled with Keith’s mane (impressively thick and voluminous), and twisted his leg to hook around Keith’s back. Keith muttered that word again, and the translator tried to give it a different meaning. Inflectionally changed meanings, perhaps? 

“Give me a minute—“ Keith groaned, pressed himself down and rocked forward. Haxus could feel Keith’s cock, twitching and almost squirming, wonderful but not what he _needed_ , against his sheath and the outer edges of his canal. Keith chirped, but smelled like a little bit of nerves. “Never—“ 

A virgin? The thought of being Keith’s first was so very appealing, and Haxus couldn’t stop the trill. But it also meant that he’d have to be a teacher; first time being the penetrating partner never went smoothly. So he levered himself up on an elbow and reached his other hand between them. Keith’s cock twitched against his palm, and Keith trilled this time. Oh, so beautiful, so worshipful! 

It didn’t take more than a moment to get the tip of Keith’s cock into his canal, and Haxus fell back as pleasure swooped through him. His canal quivered and rippled, trying to help Keith deeper. So perfect. 

“Fill me! Please!”

* * *

Keith had almost yelped when Haxus was suddenly pushing himself up and reaching a hand— But it felt so _good_. The sound he’d made, like a chirp but longer, warbling, was a shock, but then nothing mattered but the hot, wet _pressure_ suddenly around the tip of his dick and the sweetness of the begging.

Keith swore, bucked his hips, swore again. His dick spasmed and he was deeper in. More, he wanted more. He knew how this worked, had at least second hand experience of the thrusting motion, but it wasn’t happening. His dick just bent, not going any deeper. Felt kind of nice, the little bit of movement that happened but he needed _in_. The frustration made him snarl out another ‘fuck.’ 

Haxus sighed, hands clamping on like vises around his hips, holding him still. His voice was rough, but there was still that sweetness to the tone, going right to Keith’s dick, getting another twitch. “Not with your hips. Work the motion up through you from the base of your cock.” 

What? Keith fought to actually hold Haxus’s gaze against the overwhelming urge to press his face against that wonderfully muscled shoulder. His confusion must have communicated because Haxus huffed out something between a sigh and a moan and grabbed Keith’s hand. Suddenly his palm and fingers were pressed against something so slick, not too thick— A dick, Haxus’s dick—

Another pulse of arousal, another twitch, and it resulted in another trilling sound from deep in Haxus’s chest (how the fuck were they matching?). But Haxus pushed past it, talking around it almost. “Like this, feel how the muscles work against each other to get the movement.” 

Underneath his hand, that dick twitched, but it wasn’t like the spastic movements Keith’s made. No, it was a long, slow undulation, starting from the heel of his hand (so the base) and making an s-curve travel all the way up. But Keith couldn’t do that, could he? He was human, so he didn’t have some kind of alien tentacle dick. 

A breath blew hotly against the space behind his ear and Keith moaned. His dick twitched again— His dick moved a lot. His— Oh. Maybe he could, somehow? Keith tried to pull his scattered thoughts together and focused on his dick. When it twitched, he could feel— It just twitched again. Maybe he should start slow, just think about how the twitches happened? There was always a little tension along one side and then—

His dick twitched! His dick twitched while he was _thinking_ about making it twitch!

“Oh my god—“ Keith managed a breathless grin at Haxus, got his dick to twitch again. Haxus was making that trilling sound, and muscles inside the Galra were squeezing down on his dick just right, giving him something to push against. It felt _fantastic_. 

He wasn’t getting very far very fast (but almost half his dick was inside Haxus, and he was way longer than a normal dude’s dick) but it felt so good. Keith heard a different note trilling and realized it was himself, making that noise again. How was he doing that? 

“Now control it,” Haxus gasped against his shoulder, “You can do it. Think of it like you having your fingers curled into a fist, and opening them up one joint at a time.”

Like moving— Well it wouldn’t hurt, would it? Keith tried, imagining the twitch starting at the base and then shaking up, like how a dog would get water out of its fur. It felt like his favorite way to squeeze his dick, squeezing one finger at a time, shifting the pressure— “Fuck!” 

The trilling sound was almost making Keith’s chest _hurt_ , and Haxus’s back arched, lifting Keith up and he could feel himself _deeper_ and oh god. Oh _god_ —

“Perfect. Just like that. Deeper. _More._ My eggs are so close; you have to reach them. Breed me!” Haxus was just babbling, gasping and making that trilling sound, eyes closed. His hands were still on Keith’s hip, and pressing over Keith’s other hand, and they spasmed, creating little points of pressure-pain where the claws dug into his skin. Underneath his palm, Haxus’s dick was wiggling constantly and there was a rush of wet—oh, he’d come. He’d come and Keith wasn’t _done_. “Yes, please. _Please_. Peak in my deepest parts. Fertilize my eggs. Want to feel _full_. Feel the weight of your offspring growing and pressing down. _Don’t you dare stop_.” 

That last bit was a snarl, and Haxus clasped him closer where Keith was thinking about stopping because he knew how oversensitive dicks got after coming. The snarl was what did it. His dick spasmed inside the wonderful _tight_ heat and he bumped against something. The head of his dick bumped against a dead end and Keith could _feel_ it. Haxus shouted, words strangled and drowned out by the trilling. 

“Haxus—“ He was so close; it felt so good. Rippling motion, squeezing his dick in the best (his favorite way, but _better_ ), and the slick, so slick, feeling. And the _scent_. Keith gasped around that sound vibrating through his chest and jerked his hips. The little bit of push pull made things even better and then he bumped up against the dead end again—

It wasn’t a dead end anymore, swallowing him up. Pulling him through—

* * *

“Keith!” Haxus echoed the name, so close to his peak. He could feel himself opening to the welcome pressure from Keith’s cock, and it wasn’t as disappointing as he would have imagined, without the lobes to massage him. There was a long, undulating line of pleasure all the way through him, making his womb feel tense in the very best way, and traveling down his canal like a current. He felt so full, so perfectly full, just the right amount of stretch to have his muscles quivering around Keith’s cock. 

Keith was peaking, muscles shaking right out from under him and collapsing as a pleasant weight against Haxus’s chest. The panting against his chest, the tremble, and most importantly the faint increase in pressure in his womb, made Haxus feel a burst of pride. 

“Yes! Give it to me. I want every drop of your release—“ Haxus had to stop to breathe, feeling right on the edge of peaking, and groaned at the delicious sensations. Keith’s cock was still writhing, pulling on his cervix in the best way— “Can you feel it? How eager my womb is for you? Tight, cradling you in the most intimate way—“

His trill scaled higher as the pleasure washed over him. Haxus could feel every muscle clench and ripple, a series of intense contractions to make sure Keith’s release was circulated fully, to have a chance at all of his eggs. He was shivering in the aftermath, pleased and proud, and took clawtips to Keith’s mane, not bothering to resist the urge to groom a bit. Keith was groaning, body jerking and burrowing closer, and it was so flattering to know that Keith couldn’t get enough of him, even after peaking. It was probably too much to ask of someone so inexperienced, but want clawed at the back of his mind. “Peak again for me; make all my eggs catch. We can’t waste a single one.” 

Keith sputtered as Haxus bore down, trying to pull him deeper, but trailed off in a high pitched moan. “It’s too much. I can’t— I don’t— Oh god, feels like I’m still coming.” 

It was enough to make Haxus pause. “Do you want to stop?” 

“I don’t—“ Keith trilled, his cock undulating. “I— mul— it’s not possible?” 

Was that the reason for the protest? Well, that soothed his worries of a broken lock. “It certainly is; don’t you want to try it?” 

“ _Yes_ —“ Keith almost sobbed the word, hips jerking and fingers clenching against Haxus’s shoulder, “so much, too much. But god, I want to come.” 

“Then you will.” Haxus purred the words out, soft and inviting. Another peak would put him well on his way to a full clutch. It took more work, but the pleasure involved was well worth the effort. He did feel a little overwhelmed even now, but started to bear down, working his canal in a slow rhythm of squeeze and release. 

Keith shouted, but his cock was undulating, _writhing_ , and each minute pull at his cervix swept over him like a tidal wave. Perfect. Neither of them were going to last very long, and from the stuttered, shallow panting Keith was making, Keith might well white out from the intensity. 

He _wanted_ it. Their trilling harmonized so well. “Please! _Please_! I want your children. I want— They’ll be so strong.”

* * *

It was too much. Every nerve was made of molten lava and it was almost painful. But _god_ , the pleasure kept getting higher. Keith could barely think, barely move, and his awareness was narrowed down to the sighs and trills, and the rippling pressure around his dick. And the things Haxus was _saying_ , why were they so hot? 

It was stupid. He was sterile. There wouldn’t be any babies. But Keith had wanted it, told Dad that he was gonna get married and be a daddy just as good as him. And then the doctors had broken the bad news. So it was impossible, but—

“Yeah, _yeah_. Want it too. Want to give you your babies.” Keith didn’t even know what he was saying, but the thought of it was turning him on so much. “Wanna watch ‘m grow, feel ‘m move— Be the second to hold ‘m. Please—“ 

Haxus suddenly arched, trilling, and the pressure squeezed down so _good_ around Keith’s dick. There was a different scent in the air, and everything was so good. Keith didn’t have blood anymore, or nerves or bones or muscles. He was just made of different kinds of pleasure and was being filled up with more— 

—Keith gasped, feeling like someone was running current through him, but not in a bad way. Haxus’s claws ran through his hair and prickled the skin on his neck and shoulders. It was soft, soothing, and took the edge off the pleasure. Had he come? Keith…wasn’t sure, but he felt floaty and liquidy. 

“Such stamina.” Haxus sounded half asleep, with a fuzziness to his words that spoke of boneless contentment. “Some have to work for years to achieve a second peak right on the heels of a first. So good to me.” 

Words were just too much. Keith grunted and shifted his one arm that was a little sore, and then pressed his face against Haxus’s shoulder… er, chest. Height difference was a little weird. He had the vague thought that he should probably pull out, but now that he wasn’t feeling wrung out, the pressure around his dick felt nice. Haxus would say something if he didn’t like it, right?

How long they stayed like that, Keith wasn’t sure, but his one knee started to ache from the position, so Keith moved, and ended up pulling out not on purpose as he did so. Haxus made a mournful sound at it, but pulled Keith closer. Tucked against Haxus, Keith decided he didn’t want to move. He felt too tired, too _good_ to move. 

But the doubts started creeping in the longer he laid there. This was a bad idea, a terrible idea. Too late now, but staying here, basking in Haxus’s scent and the feel of his fur, that was compounding the terribleness. What would the others think? What would _Shiro_ think? 

Alright, Keith knew to take the cringe at that thought as a sign that he should listen to logic (or his conscience, at least), and withdraw before he made this worse. He sat up, meaning to reach for his pants, crumpled on the floor (okay, where was his shirt?), but Haxus moved with him. 

“Where are you going?” The disappointment in Haxus’s scent hurt worse than that same tone in his words. 

Keith tried to pull away, found _himself_ feeling disappointed at the lack of contact. “I shouldn’t have come here. I _really_ shouldn’t have had sex with you without at least—“ Were there condoms that’d fit his dick? “…Unsafe sex is a bad idea, always.” 

There was a bit of sour in Haxus’s scent, hurt. “You regret…?” He pressed a hand to his own stomach, so soft, with weirdly loose skin. 

Keith hugged himself as hurt, old and _new_ , surged up, cold and brittle in his chest. “No, I— I’m _sterile_ , okay? Wanting it doesn’t mean I could actually do it for you! I can’t ever be a dad like I—“ 

Even with the brittleness threatening to break his ribs from inside, he didn’t miss the change in Haxus’s scent, the way he straightened. “So that’s what Shiro wanted me to apologize for…” 

An arm wrapped around his waist, pulling him back, and Keith wanted it enough that he hesitated until it was too late. Haxus made a weird warbling sound in his chest and clawtips started combing through his hair. Dammit, how the hell did Haxus know he was so weak to having his hair played with? It was _hard_ to resist the urge to relax into the touches. 

“What proof were you given? Your scent broadcasts fertility; it doesn’t make much sense…” 

Hurt prickled at him, making Keith tense, but could he really blame the alien who was desperate to get pregnant for reaching? Keith breathed out sharply through his nose to contain the urge to snap. “The doctors tested me. Non-motile, malformed sperm cells. So, yeah. Sterile.” 

“Earthlings have motile sperm?” Haxus looked surprised, and maybe a little weirded out. 

“Galra _don’t_?” Because really, what? How would the sperm reach the eggs otherwise? Aliens were weird.

“It’s not particularly common in the universe,” Haxus said, still playing with Keith’s hair, “but Galra are built so that sperm can be released directly into the womb with the eggs. The womb then circulates the fluid and allows for fertilization. So as long as they have your DNA inside, motility isn’t a problem. Did the doctors test that?”

Keith didn’t know what to think about the revelation. Part of him felt almost like it was glowing, because he’d been so crushed to learn he could never be a dad. But the rest of his head was busy telling him about how many ways having kids right now would go wrong. The war was actually the least of them. Haxus was an enemy. Probably. Definitely not trustworthy right now. “No.” 

“Then I’ll trust what your scent tells me.” So matter of fact, and then Haxus followed it up by rubbing his cheek against Keith’s neck and breathing deep. Zero to sixty in less than a second, and Keith chirped. 

It would be so easy to fall back into bed, fuck Haxus again. His dick was squirming against his thighs. This was all a really bad idea. Knowing that didn’t make it take any less than all of Keith’s willpower to get up and drag his pants on before he could rethink it. The mournful noise Haxus made almost did the job anyway. 

“I still… if I’m found in here with you, there’ll be trouble.” It sounded like a lame excuse to his own ears, even if it was completely true, and Keith heard Haxus stumbling after him as he put his hand on the door panel. He ground out the phrase to finish unlocking just as warmth brushed against him. 

“Once more, just once— Twice is not enough to be sure.” Haxus’s hands slid down his bare arms, and a sharp chin rubbed against the spot underneath his ear that set him alight. A tug against one hip had him turning around before he could think better of it.

The door was gonna close— A half step back at least stopped Keith from having to go through the unlocking again. He was pretty sure Haxus would manage to distract him too well to pull it off a second time. And fuck. “Don’t know if I _can_ come again.” 

“If you need a break,” Haxus’s voice was hot against his ear, and long fingers wound more than halfway around his thighs, “I would be happy to show you the joy of receiving.” 

Just the words, not even the silky-sexy tone, was enough to make Keith’s va—his hole clench, and he was chirping again. How many times had he wanted? And Haxus’s dick was skinny, like Keith’s was. It probably wouldn’t hurt. Maybe. Keith could fit two fingers up there without too much pain, anyway. “This is a bad idea…” 

It wasn’t a no, and Keith knew it. He was letting his libido win, and Shiro was gonna— Keith yelped as he was lifted, and ended up with his legs clasped around Haxus’s waist. His dick ended up pressed against Haxus’s stomach, making him moan again, and then pitch higher into a chirp when he felt a wiggle against his pants, against the edge of his hole. Oh god. 

“Please. I want to worship every part of you, imprint you so thoroughly on my every cell that I’ll never forget. I know we’ll be parted tomorrow, but let tonight be ours.” Haxus spoke most of that barely an inch from his skin, and rubbed against him, cheek and chin and neck and chest, the whole time. 

_Yes_. Yes, please. (Logic said no, but the whole of the rest of him was drowning that logic out.) Keith chirped again, feeling pressure against his hole. The fabric of his pants made it scratchy, but the pressure was so _good_. “Yes. Okay, yes, please.” 

They were moving and Keith didn’t care, eyes squeezed shut because this was such a bad idea but god, did he want it. Haxus moaned something that didn’t quite make it all the way to words, and then chirped loudly in his ear. A second later, Keith’s back hit the bed. 

Wait, a minute. The spare room shouldn’t smell that much like Keith—

* * *

It was too easy to take advantage. A few romantic words, letting his body’s desperation speak so clearly in scent, and Keith was pliant and desperate in his arms. Haxus did his best to be distracting as he slipped down the hall, locating Keith’s room by the strength of the scent there. He was almost surprised that the plan had worked. But then, a virgin’s first experiences were so intense that he couldn’t claim to be completely surprised. 

He was ignoring completely that he was thinking more about the sex than the sabotage he needed to get done right now. He should knock Keith out and use his newfound freedom to fulfill his orders. Haxus knew very well that he’d show Keith the pleasure of being penetrated and then do everything to urge Keith to breed him again instead. Keith was young and inexperienced; eventually his lack of sexual stamina would drop him into a deep sleep to recover and Haxus could make his move then. (It was a flimsy reasoning, and Haxus knew it.)

Something of the haze was clearing from Keith’s eyes, so Haxus let himself chirp and got busy, rubbing his cheek and neck over the disappointingly small markings on Keith’s chest. Probably never fully formed on account of him being a half-breed. The dawning realization was swallowed up in pleasure again. Good. 

Haxus wasn’t going to give Keith a chance to realize they weren’t where they should be, so he brought his claws to bear on the pants this time, and stalled Keith’s protest by dragging his nuzzling lower. An incompletely formed pouch too. Poor half-breed. But that didn’t matter; the wonderfully tangy scent of Keith’s slick did. He couldn’t produce as much as a brooding switch could, but it was still impressive. Hmm, perhaps he was about to go into pre-brooding? As unfortunate as it was, Haxus had some of Sendak’s scent and pheromones clinging to his fur even now. Perhaps not enough to get a clear smell, but a virile male’s pheromones could cause a brooding period to start up early. 

The thoughts weren’t enough to distract Haxus from his chosen task. Keith trilled when Haxus nuzzled those slick inner thighs, coating himself in the most potent proof of Keith’s arousal, and eagerly rejoined in the transfer of it when Haxus moved to settle his weight down on his smaller part—

Couldn’t let his thoughts go in _that_ direction. Haxus focused on the tip of his cock instead. Keith’s canal was so eager for him, muscles stretching it out further from his core, and making it tremble. It was no trouble at all to find the entrance and start undulating his cock to get ins—

Keith hissed, scent going sharp and unhappy with physical pain. Damn. “Are you okay?” 

“I—“ Keith drew a shaking breath, seemed to reconsider what he was saying, “I— …kicked his ass but not before he hurt me.” 

_Oh_. Haxus felt a brief swell of sympathy. The results of being forced then, and there had to be scarring to still cause pain without an active blood scent. This complicated things, and his desire warred with common sense. Push, and he could ruin his plans to keep Keith satisfied until he dropped off to sleep. “Do you want to stop?” 

Keith swallowed, wiggled his hips experimentally, and then gasped. “Hurts, but— Will it hurt worse?” 

Well, it sounded like Keith was aroused enough to discount caution. Haxus still had to be careful, however. “I don’t know; I’m not a doctor.” 

Keith trilled and shivered. “Feels kinda… feels good inside. Just outside hurts.” He opened his eyes, meeting Haxus with more trust than he knew he deserved (he wasn’t going to entertain guilt, he wasn’t!). “Don’t stop—“ 

That answered that. Haxus would just have to be careful, gentle, and slow. They didn’t have the time or resources to heal the scarring, and he didn’t think he was girthy enough to do more damage. He concentrated on the smallest movements of his cock, easing forward as gently as he could. Keith still hissed and tensed, but the arousal was far from gone from his scent. “Relax; I’ll make it feel so good for you. I’ll be so gentle”

* * *

The promise of things feeling good almost wasn’t enough to keep Keith committed to this idea. Memories of the bastard kept trying to intrude, but it was different time. Haxus, who was from an entire species of serious assholes and bastards, was _asking_. He was promising to be gentle, to make it good. 

That more than anything else made Keith hold back the ‘stop’ that was sticking to the roof of his mouth. It did feel good inside. Past the burn of feeling stretched to and maybe a little past his hole’s limit, the pressure and stretch felt _so good_. Haxus’s dick was so close to pressing against that spot Keith could never reach with fingers, that Keith was sure was the base of his dick. He’d hold on just a little more before calling it all off—

The trill ripped out of his chest, and Keith’s back arched. The burn mattered so much less now that the spot (so good, so sensitive) was being pushed against. Each new writhe pressed against it, but at the same time, Haxus’s dick was getting deeper than Keith had ever dared imagine. He felt on the edge of coming already, but his dick was oversensitive, and Haxus was holding himself up enough not to put external pressure on it. 

“Please, please—“

It was almost embarrassing to be asking (begging) for more, and Keith pressed his face to Haxus’s neck, both because he wanted to drown in the scent and because he didn’t want to see any smug smirking. Because Keith was pretty sure that Haxus was that kind of jerk who would. He held on instead, fingers clenched in the thicker fur down Haxus’s back

“So good to me, opening yourself up to be filled. I’ll show you all the pleasure of reaching your deepest places. Caress your womb—“

Wha— _oh fuck!_ What was _that_? Keith couldn’t actually find enough air to ask from the trilling but Haxus was pushing up against something so deep inside, and _moving_. So good, so _good—_

Something gave, something opened up and sucked (what? Seriously, what?) Haxus deeper, and there was no further to go. No higher to go. Keith had come from his dick often enough, but this was like a wave, swallowing him up and carrying him down and away with it. Keith gasped for air and shouted, feeling everything squeezing down, releasing, clenching again. Like ripples over the surface of a pond. Holy fuck, this blew every other orgasm out of the water—

Just as Keith was starting to feel way oversensitive again, the pleasure began to ebb, but not all the way. He felt like there was a current buzzing under his skin, and something warm and melty taking residence deep inside his abdomen. And it was going on and on with every little twitch of Haxus’s dick.

When Keith pried his eyes open, Haxus’s were closed, and his head was down as he panted. Haxus must have come too. 

“Wow…” So articulate, but Keith was pretty sure words had been fucked right out of him for now. _Wow_.

* * *

Ah, so good. Haxus was tempted to let the plans go and find sleep for himself, surrounded by the now comforting scents of their pleasure. Instead, he started grooming, dragging clawtips through Keith’s mane, and then massaging the skin with the pads of his fingers. Keith didn’t have enough fur elsewhere for the same treatment, but Haxus had enough experience with furless Galra to know how to stimulate the skin with his fingers. The gentlest trailing of claws and firm, circular pressure. Keith blinked up at him, half asleep, in spite of their lock. Being sleepy would help it come to a natural end sooner, so Haxus crooned softly, encouraging it with sound and scent.

Keith blinked slowly, shook his head, and then his eyes drifted closed, and Haxus could feel the relaxing of his cervix. 

“—ow!” 

Of _course_ the pain from the damage would be enough to rouse Keith again when Haxus pulled out. “My apologies.” 

“‘sokay,” Keith mumbled, still sleepy, but not right on the edge anymore. “Got told I’d never have pleasurable sex, so… thanks.” 

Getting thanked was not what Haxus would have expected. The Earthlings must have shunned him for being half-Galra, the fools, and created a void that Haxus was filling now with basic respect. For a brief second, Haxus entertained the fantasy of convincing Keith to join him, get revenge for the slights of the other Earthlings and the Alteans (who he must have had to hide his heritage from), and then be rewarded by the Emperor by bringing in all the Lions. There was the rare precedent for half-breeds with rank in the fleet, after all.

It would never work. Not only was Keith firmly on the side of his fellows, but Sendak would crush him for being a half-breed. Still, maybe Haxus could manage to hide Keith for a little while, keep him out of Sendak’s way for the duration of the trip back to the fleet…

What a fool Haxus was being! He shook himself to push the ideas out, but that got Keith’s attention and a questioning noise. What could he… Ah. Perfect. “I’m disappointed in your allies for not offering you healing that you deserve. Perhaps your home planet wasn’t advanced enough, but the Alteans were renowned for their medical technology.”

Keith stiffened, and then sighed, defeated. “I wish. But it’s old; scars can’t be healed like that.” 

“You say that like it’s impossible to heal scars. It takes longer and is more involved, but if you were told it wasn’t possible, the Alteans lied to you.”

“Guess I’ll ask Coran then.” Keith didn’t smell like belief, but there was a thin thread to his scent that Haxus identified as hope.

“You’re so enchanting, so strong. You deserve every pleasure,” Haxus said, trying not to be annoyed with himself for meaning it. He went back to the grooming, hoping to pull Keith back down to sleep. 

Keith huffed a laugh, and started returning the favor, hands clumsy but earnest. It felt so soothing…

—damn! Haxus awoke in a second, frustrated with himself for succumbing to sleep. Keith was curled against his chest, breaths deep and even. At least there was that. After careful, slow movements to extract himself from his—from Keith, Haxus put a pillow rubbed over himself into Keith’s arms. Keith snuggled into it with a sigh, for the moment content with the scent and something to hold to keep him in deep sleep. 

He didn’t even have the clothes that he’d been given with him, and Haxus _could_ , but didn’t _want_ to, walk around naked, so he searched for something to cover himself with. After a quick look, he stumbled across some kind of red robe, loose enough to fit, even if it was too short in the arms, and barely reached his knees. It would be enough. 

Sneaking out was too simple, and the lights were low to indicate a sleep period. Fine by Haxus, because he was as suited to low light as every Galra. It was impossible to keep his toe-claws from clicking on the deck, even with careful steps, and that alone was enough to make him more cautious as he made his way down to where he suspected he’d find supplies for a new bomb. 

Everything was out in the open, unguarded and strewn about. It looked like half a dozen projects had been started all at once, in such a wide variety of applications. If not for the mess, Haxus thought he could respect the creator for being so well-versed. He didn’t linger once he had what he needed, and started picking his way to the bridge. 

There was only one interruption, voices heard as he passed by what he suspected was a rest area. Shiro, and the male Altean. Keith’s name made him stop, and Haxus cursed himself for it. 

The male Altean sounded as perky as he had before. “—preciate your discretion, but I dare say that if Keith has medical issues of some kind, we could surely take care of them! Depending on what they are, a simple spin in a pod could fix him right up! Some problems would take more resources than we have right here, but since we’re taking off on the morrow, I’m sure we could locate what we needed. Don’t worry.” 

“I can’t help it,” Shiro was saying, “especially with that Galra coming onto him like that. It’s… something’s _off_.” 

“I can’t help but agree—“

Haxus took a risk of louder ticks against the deck in order to flee quickly, and only relaxed when he got to the bridge. He assembled and placed the bomb almost on autopilot, and then commandeered one of the crew stations (the one that smelled a bit like Keith), in order to hack the communications system. He kept it to audio, and Sendak’s voice rumbled out of a speaker. 

“What’s your report, Lieutenant?” 

“I’ve rigged and placed a bomb, timed to go off—“ Haxus did a little mental calculation to give Sendak enough time to reach the Castle with their intact sentries and programmed it in while giving the figure, “and I will be opening the main entrance shortly.” 

Haxus pulled up another program, pleased when he could reconfigure it to hone in on the life-signs. “Sh— The Champion and the male Altean are awake and in one of the lounges. The rest are all asleep in their quarters. When the power goes out, they’ll all be trapped within. Once the new crystal is in place, reprogramming the door locks will be child’s play.” 

“Excellent. As I expected. What will you do until then?” 

Haxus grinned. “I’ll return to where they’ve put me, and make ready to betray the trust I convince them to foolishly give. They will be weak and unsuspecting of an attack from me, because I’ve made them care about me too.” 

He laughed, pushing aside a burst of unease at the thought and not failing to notice that Sendak’s laugh was not his pleased one. Damn. But the longer he remained here, the more likely he’d get caught, so it was time sign off and to go. 

With the door set to open right before the bomb went off, Haxus hurried back to Keith. Keith was stirring in the bed when he arrived, snuffling unhappily at the pillow. How would he explain— The bathroom. 

He was just barely inside when Keith’s voice called out, sharp with worry and distrust. “Haxus?”

“Bathroom! I’m sorry, I couldn’t wait any longer. I tried so hard not to wake you.” To give truth to the lie, Haxus sat down to relieve himself. It was always a good idea to go into battle with empty bowels anyway. He kicked the robe into a corner where it would hopefully not be noticed and came out, running his hands over his pouch skin in a movement that drew attention down to his thighs. Being surrounded by the scent of Keith and of their combined pleasure was enough to have his canal exuberantly producing slick again and his cock sliding out. Keith was staring, flushed and equally aroused, but shook himself and got up to grab his pants.

“What the hell, Haxus?” Keith stared at Haxus through the long tears that had shredded them. 

Haxus couldn’t find it in himself to pretend to be ashamed of it. “They were in the way; I consider them an acceptable loss.” 

“You jerk.” Keith was pouting, but didn’t smell as angry as he sounded. “I _liked_ those pants.” 

What a perfect opportunity. “Let me make it up to you.” 

Keith went still, looking up at him, and didn’t move away from the touch. Haxus delighted in the shiver he got when he ran his hands up Keith’s sides and gently tugged Keith closer. Keith chirped as their chests brushed, tipped his neck to the side, and then stepped back with a hissed breath. Haxus let him go. Holding on wouldn’t do him any good at this point. 

“We have to get you back to your room. The others will be up soon and—“ Keith groaned. “I can’t believe I was so stupid. I let you out! What if you’d turned us all over to Sendak?” 

“It wasn’t your fault; I didn’t realize the door had closed until it was too late, and it was just so much easier to follow your scent. So _appealing_ to be in the place you’ve claimed for yourself, surrounded by you in every way.” The excuse probably wouldn’t go very far, but Haxus didn’t need it to. Just a little push and he’d probably have Keith in bed again. Oh, how he _wanted_. “And I— I want to _protect you_ from him. Protect myself— I would never turn you over to him.” 

That was disturbingly true. He could push past the feeling and do it anyway, but how much he’d grown attached (was it a partner bond after all?) in such a short time was worrying. Keith’s brow furrowed. “You’re not lying about that…” Then he shook his head. “I still need to get you back to your room. Shiro will be so mad—“ 

“It isn’t the wake-cycle yet is it? We have a little time.” It was the last chance he’d get, and Haxus wanted to be taken one last time, experience the pleasure and closeness. It was entirely selfish, but would also allow him to keep track of Keith until Sendak took over. There might be a way to keep Keith relatively safe, at least, but he’d have to play it by ear. “I ache to have you in my one last time. I know they won’t approve, and I don’t want to cause you trouble, but surely we can find a little time?” 

Keith muttered something that sounded like ‘shouldn’t think with my dick’ and roughly dragged his hands through his mane, pulling out hairs that weren’t ready to come free. Haxus found himself making a soft, disapproving noise and reaching out to work clawtips in instead. A proper grooming. 

Keith tipped his head into the touch, spine rigid, but then he relaxed and groaned. “I hate you.” 

There was no heat in it, only desire and a little frustration. Haxus leaned forward and _finally_ brushed their cheeks together, enjoying the electric sensation of his fur being disturbed, and the increase in scent. _Yes_. 

There was nothing else but pleasure. Scent and chirps and trills, and the feel of Keith beneath him, between his thighs. Straddling Keith, who’d ended up on is back on the bed, was not the best position for nuzzles and other touches, but the bit of extra pressure from gravity made him so very aware of his eggs tucked safely away inside and so _ready_ to catch. It was obvious that Keith was mistaken about being sterile; Haxus was sure he’d catch. 

Keith had gotten the hang of threading his cock, so there was not a single complaint to be found, just the secure sensation of being filled, of being so much closer to the joy of fertilized eggs. Haxus crooned out his approval, running his hands over what their position made reaching with his face hard, and focused on the sensations. 

Then Keith surprised him, but forcing his way sitting and wrapping strong arms around Haxus’s neck. The strength of his core to be able to pull that off was quite arousing, and it led to the pleasure of having Keith nuzzling at his markings, sharp breaths disturbing the fur. 

“God, you’re so good, so tight. ’s like you were made for me—“ Keith was getting the hang of talking through his own trills too, Haxus noticed. 

“Yes, made for you—“ Haxus arched. He was close, they both were. Keith’s cock was writhing inside him, caressing his cervix in almost a tease and— _Yes_. 

It was easy to give in, let his peak wash over him. They trilled together, picking up where one was trailing off, and Keith bucked once beneath him. Haxus kept an arm around Keith’s back as he shuddered, as they _both_ did. The lock had begun, and there were a few moments of pleasure left to them before they’d have to separate. 

If Haxus had timed it right, the bomb should be going off soon, just in time for them to be in the halls. He’d probably have to knock Keith out to get him to cooperate, but—

An alarm squawked, there and gone before it could even be properly registered, and the lights all went out. Oh no, he’d miscalculated.

His breath caught in inexplicable terror for a second. “Sendak— No!” 

If Sendak found them locked—


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And a resolution.

Keith knew why people thought about sex _all the time_ now. Why people did stupid things for it. Why people swore they were in love when they barely knew each other but had had some wild sex. 

Sex was _fantastic_ , and the back of his brain was trying to tell him that he and Haxus were perfect together. That was dumb (probably) and he wasn’t going to listen, but there it was. 

Keith knew they didn’t have long before Pidge, at the very least, was awake, and that he should get Haxus off him and get dressed, but it felt so good, holding each other with his dick so _deep_. 

Then all hell broke loose. Something tried to set off the alarms, and now the lights were out. Haxus was saying something about Sendak, and Keith swore. “What— Did you—“

Oh god, had Haxus been playing him? But Haxus smelled _afraid_ , and whispered into his shoulder, “He got tired of waiting.” 

Oh. Oh shit. Sendak was attacking the castle. They needed to— But the moment Keith tried to pull out, Haxus clamped down on him painfully, even managing to stop thought for a second.

“No, no. Please don’t. Breaking the lock is agony.” Haxus was trying to be soothing, but mostly came across as tense and almost awkward. 

“The _what_.” Please tell him it wasn’t what it sounded like. 

Haxus looked at Keith strangely. “After peaking, the receiving partner’s body clamps down to hold their partner inside. It prolongs the length and intensity of the peak and exchanges hormones.” 

Exactly how it sounded. Keith didn’t want to hurt Haxus (he wasn’t that bastard that had hurt him) but they needed to _move_. “So how do we end it without breaking it?” 

“The stress will probably help, and grooming does too,” Haxus started trailing his claws through Keith’s hair, and okay, that felt so good and relaxing. If it worked—

It was working, but left Keith fighting a heavy, warm feeling of exhaustion. Screw that. As soon as they were apart, Keith scrambled for his armor in the dark, but the lights flickered, and then came back purple. There was a beep and a red light lit above the door panel. The same kind of red light over the door that Pidge had reprogrammed for Haxus. “We’ve been locked in.” 

And Haxus was also still naked. Keith started to ask, but got interrupted. “My armor got taken, and what clothes I had were in my room.” 

Oh. Well there were the actual nightclothes that came with the room, (with fuzzy lion slippers, what) that might fit… Keith dug them out, wondering where the robe had gone, and handed them over. The shirt was tight and too short in the arms, and the pants were probably restrictive and also too short, but it worked. Okay. They had to break out. Where was Pidge when they needed him?” 

As if on cue, Pidge’s voice crackled through Keith’s helmet. “Okay, cool. I think I’ve got us on a secure channel. Lance, if you’re asleep still; you will never hear the end of it. So! I was up early working on taking apart our guest’s armor, and all the lights went out. Just a couple minutes ago I saw that Sendak guy walking through the halls with a bunch of sentries and a big purple crystal. Now the lights are purple. Thoughts?” 

“So my thoughts are, we are in _deep_ shit right now? I’m locked in my room and I don’t have the tools to hotwire the door panel.” Hunk sounded panicked, which wasn’t good. They needed to be calm. 

“Where’s Shiro?” That was probably not the most important thing, but it was the question weighing most on Keith right now. Shiro had just escaped from the Galra, and now Sendak had invaded their base. 

“Don’t know,” Pidge said, “I can’t locate him or Coran, but the Princess is in her room and she knows the Castle. I’m gonna get her out first and then come override the doors for you guys. Somebody wake Lance up from his beauty sleep, would you? I can’t believe he’s still not answering. He must sleep like the dead.” 

Hunk’s laugh was a little hysterical. “Noise canceling headphones and a sleep mask. He literally spent an hour searching for equivalents that first night. Lance takes sleep _seriously_ , but man, I wish he was awake right now…” 

Then Hunk screamed. “Oh god, oh _god_ , there was just some kind of tearing metal noise really close and oh god, I am _not_ prepared for this, guys! Hurry Pidge!” 

“What could—Oh shit, the room we put the Galra in was right next to yours, Hunk—“ 

“Haxus,” Keith snapped, and immediately regretted it. He could feel faint warmth against his back, Haxus crowding close but not actually touching, and instead of the usual prickle of unease when someone was near his back like that, Keith had to resist the urge to relax. Oh fuck him. 

“What’s a Haxus?” Hunk asked, sounding calmer in his curiosity. “And wait, if big scary Galra just tore into the room where we were keeping the other Galra, does that mean we’ve got _two_ to worry about now?” 

“It’s his name, and he’s with me.” Keith winced at the shouts questioning why. “Big asshole Galra just ripped the door to his room right off, why do you _think_?” 

“Uh-huh, _sure_ that’s why.” Well, Lance was awake, and cranky with it. “I saw your boner earlier, man! We are so gonna have _words_ over your horrible taste in men once we’ve kicked some Galra ass.” 

Keith drew a breath to snap at Lance, and the door slid open.

* * *

Keith was arguing with his allies and Haxus could have easily dug his claws into Keith’s neck, or stolen the dagger prudently hidden under Keith’s pillow to drive in between Keith’s ribs. 

He _couldn’t._ Every instinct objected, telling him to take Keith and find somewhere safe for them. The last part was brooding hormones, but the first… was worrying.

But not as worrying as the scent of fury that washed in when the door opened. It was dark and pungent, like rotting blood and rank, oily musk, and Haxus had only smelled that kind of anger off Sendak once in his service. He barely had time to slip Keith’s dagger into the stretched tight waist of the pants, in hopes it wouldn’t be found. It would be useless as a direct attack but if Haxus could get a chance— If he couldn’t convince Sendak of his usefulness—

Keith was already flinging himself at Sendak in a protective rage, the defensive growl rolling from his chest and the particular pungency of a nascent evict or eviscerate response shifting into his scent. He managed two attacks before Sendak’s prosthetic arm smashed him against the wall, knocking the helmet off. Haxus hissed and dodged as the attack reversed towards him, but his claws were useless against the metal of that same arm when it drove him to the floor. 

Sendak snarled in his face, spittle dripping from his fangs. “I give you the honor of having _me_ to breed you, and you go opening your thighs for that _thing_ right away? How dare you insult me like this!” 

Keith snarled out something, but it was slurred and pained, and Sendak paid no attention to it. “When I return triumphant, I’ll make sure you’re turned over to the bordellos like the whore you’ve made yourself into. Maybe I should offer you to the fleet for stress release first so you have a traumatic flush. It would save the bordello the expense of flushing your worthless offspring for you.” 

That was not an idle threat. Sendak really was furious enough to consider such a thing. Fear swept through Haxus and he found his hand pressed to his stomach before he could think better of it. Sendak just spit in his face, radiating disgust and grievously offended pride. “So desperate to be a mother; perhaps you shouldn’t have chosen an inferior, traitorous sire if you wanted it so badly.” 

With a shout of rage, Keith flung himself at Sendak again, and actually scored a hit. It wasn’t deep, but Sendak roared as blood scent filled the air, and Keith was slammed into the deck plates next to Haxus in short order. Keith’s eyes went unfocused, either dazed or concussed, and he couldn’t protest being flipped face down, or the grip on the back of his neck. 

As they were both dragged along the hall, gripped painfully in Sendak’s claws, Haxus despaired. He’d ruined everything by indulging in his desire.

* * *

Keith tried to struggle, but with his vision graying out and his ears ringing, he didn’t get far, and it wasn’t long before his arms were cuffed behind his back. He was tossed at the end of what felt like a long trek, bounced with a jarring pain through every cell, and rolled against something warm— Shiro!

Shiro was on his knees, armor singed, smelling of stress and worry, but not of more than a few bruises. Coran, lying on the ground next to them, wasn’t so lucky. His skin was so pale it was translucent, and blood trickled from both his forehead and an ozone-smelling wound on his side. Oh shit.

Around them, the light was the same purple as a Galra cruiser, and there was a massive purple crystal in the center of the room. Sendak went to the forward control panel, tossing Haxus as he went, and to Keith’s relief and humiliation, Haxus ended up coming to a stop mostly on top of him. Haxus groaned in pain and went limp and heavy on top of Keith, and Shiro made a choked noise in his throat. 

Distantly, Keith heard Sendak giving orders to the pair of sentries at the door, to the tune of rounding up the Princess, who’d apparently gotten out. At least she, and hopefully the Pidge, weren’t locked conveniently in their rooms. 

Haxus groaned and started twisting himself. It would have been so easy to miss the whisper, amid the scents of fear, regret and despair, but Keith’s senses were zeroed in on everything Haxus. “Should have let him have his way with me…” 

With a sickening lurch in his stomach that might have been partly to do with his aching head, Keith realized that Haxus had given up already. Well, what was he expecting? Haxus had only fled because he didn’t want his own commanding officer to rape him. He wasn’t disloyal to the Empire in any other way. Haxus had made a desperate gamble and it hadn’t paid off. Now he’d surely pull an equally desperate gamble to get back into favor, because it sure didn’t look good right now. Keith had to— “Don’t give up. Pidge hasn’t been captured and is amazing; we’re not beaten yet.” 

Haxus turned his head away from Keith, and kept struggling until he’d gotten himself into a sitting position. Sendak had made some kind of transmission and was bragging about having captured the Castle no thanks to his traitorous lieutenant who’d gone and fucked an equally traitorous half-breed. Wait. _What_?

That apparently also got the attention of whoever Sendak was talking to, and Keith couldn’t rip his attention away from the gravelly voice that sent a jolt of fear right through him. “The Red Paladin is a half-breed? Bring your lieutenant before me.” 

Haxus was already half up, and lurched to his feet, hands cuffed behind him. Keith held his breath, gritting his teeth so hard pain lanced through his head. Here it came, the inevitable betrayal. He’d been so _stupid_ , thinking with his dick instead of his brain. And why did they keep calling him a half-breed?

Haxus was speaking, smelling desperate. “I have never failed! I have completed _every_ order I was given. I’m loyal to the Empire!” 

“Is this true, Commander Sendak?” 

“…technically,” Sendak admitted, sounding like it was the very last thing he wanted to say, “but he went begging for a half-breed the first chance he got. _That_ is a betrayal of the Empire.” 

“That’s false. I was merely using the resources at my disposal. Allowing a slight, correctable shame in order to gain freedom inside the Castle Ship was a minor sacrifice. It will take only a brief procedure to flush the unwanted eggs.” Haxus spoke a little quickly, and there was no waver in his voice. 

But his scent was off and something unpleasant curled in it; Keith could smell it from here. Sendak backhanded him abruptly, almost sending him back to the floor. “Your lies are thick in your scent! You _want_ the half-breed between your thighs even now; you cherish the filth growing inside you. You’re just the kind of fool that dilutes and pollutes the strong heritage of Galra!”

“I have the right to choose the sire of my eggs!” Haxus shouted, sudden anger pushing through the other emotions in his scent. “You didn’t offer like you should have, you told! You would have turned it into an order that I couldn’t disobey if I’d said I didn’t want you. Come on, deny it! Your scent will betray your lies.” 

Silence stretched, interrupted only by a low hiss from Sandak. Finally the Emperor’s voice dominated the bridge again. “An officer of such calibre _does_ have the right to choose, even if the choice is a poor and shameful one. Making assumptions that remove his choice does not reflect well on you, Commander. You would do well to remember that in the future and as consequence, your First Lieutenant will be removed from your command.” 

Sendak hissed again, and Haxus was holding very, very still. The pause was the deliberate kind that suggested the Emperor wasn’t done. “However, such an indiscretion is inappropriate, and consorting with an enemy is an offense, Lieutenant. You will be stripped of your rank so that you may prove your worth and earn it back. Because your clutch will be useful in controlling the Paladin, you will be allowed to keep it, but you will submit yourself to medical so that a more appropriate genetic match can be selected for you for your future brooding periods. If being bred by the candidate is unacceptable, you may choose to be inseminated instead.” 

Haxus’s scent was anything but happy, but he bowed as well as he could with his hands bound, and said something that sounded like Verpit Sa. Sendak snarled, “being sent to the bordellos is a more appropriate punishment for a Galra that spreads their thighs for an inferior race like a whore.” 

“The Paladin’s rank makes the indiscretion both less shameful and useful to the Empire; my ruling stands. Now, your additional orders for bringing in the Lions are to bring the Champion, the Red Paladin, and the Altean Princess to me alive. The others you may dispose of if it becomes necessary to do so.” 

Sendak didn’t smell any happier but saluted before the transmission cut out. Then he roughly spun Haxus around and undid the cuffs. “One toe-claw out of line and I will do worse than kill you, filthy xenophile. Now go and make sure the other Paladins are still contained while the sentries track the Princess.” 

The shove that followed sent Haxus sprawling on top of Keith, forcing the breath from his chest. For a long moment after, Haxus just stared at him from a half crouch, braced on one elbow. 

Then something hard slipped under his side and Haxus was moving away. His knife! How had Haxus gotten his knife?

* * *

It was foolish! It was treason! But in that moment, staring down at Keith, stripped of his rank and his Commander just waiting for a chance to punish him, Haxus felt a flash of spite. If Sendak was going to reward the lengths he’d gone to secure the Castle with threats of rape and being forced into the bordellos. If the Emperor himself was going to strip his rank and make him start over again. If the sires of his offspring were going to be _chosen for him_ from now on—

Haxus almost hoped that the Paladins would rise up and defeat Sendak. Shoving the dagger beneath Keith was probably a useless gesture, but Haxus was sure now that if Sendak was somehow defeated (probably more by his own arrogance than the Paladins’ skill) that he’d be treated better with them. And if Sendak was successful, perhaps the gesture would make Keith think more favorably on him, because Haxus hadn’t missed the implication that his offspring were going to be used to force Keith to behave, and probably fight for the Empire. 

On the way, Haxus took a detour down to where he suspected his armor might have been taken. He didn’t find it, which made his frustration mount. Where did the Green Paladin keep his primary workstation? 

But no matter, he was still confident enough of his skills to take on the rest of the Paladins even without weapons and armor. So he headed back up to the crew quarters to… He wasn’t sure what he’d do. If he released them and Sendak was victorious, Sendak might use it as an excuse to kill him. If he didn’t release them, and the Paladins were victorious, they could use that as proof that he’d betrayed them (which he had) and then kill him. Neither option was particularly good—

—the Green one, (his name was…) looked up from where he was breaking into one of the rooms, and immediately a green weapon was shot at Haxus. He ducked and rolled, mind whirring. How could he stop— Well, his decision was made for him wasn’t it? Haxus put his hand against the red lit door panel he’d all but crashed into with his dodge, hoping Sendak had just programmed them to recognize Galra. It opened and a gun was put to his head. The Blue one! 

“Lance, wait! He just let you out—“ The Green one (Pidge, that’s it.) pressed a couple buttons on his wrist interface and the last door popped open. 

“Something stinks. Why’s he free? We heard Sendak break into Keith’s room.” Lance smelled less sure, and less aggressive, than he looked, so Haxus just held still. 

The Yellow one stepped out and clapped Pidge on the shoulder, and Haxus almost envied the easy camaraderie. Pidge, however, was giving Haxus a calculating look and hadn’t lowered his weapon. Haxus respected the skill and presence of mind. He really wasn’t trustworthy, even if he had to convince them he was. How was he going to convince them he was? 

“Okay, explanations. _Now_.” Pidge made a gesture with his small, green weapon. If Haxus hadn’t seen it fired out with the tether, he’d have been tempted to discount it, but it had surprising range. “As we walk, ‘cause being still is suicide. You can start with why you were in Keith’s room in the first place.” 

Haxus agreed with the first sentiment. He didn’t particularly want to answer the question, but what choice did he have? Maybe he’d let his lingering embarrassment over wanting Keith guide him. “I… may have let my desire take reign more than I should have. He was leaving and I was trying to convince him to stay, and then the door was closed. Being surrounded by the sire’s scent rather than in a scentless, foreign room is also soothing. Brooding instincts make me anxious.” 

All true enough, but Lance was glaring, and smelled of disbelief. “Gonna call bullshit. You wanted to be free to roam the Castle. I bet if we could get the security cameras up, we’d see you sneaking around! How did Sendak get _in_ , huh?”

Haxus despaired of their foolishness, but it was foolishness in his favor. If he could survive this, his new victory would be gaining their trust. How easy was it to turn aside from the Empire that didn’t respect his sacrifice for victory. The thought that he’d only ever been loyal because it was easy and simple to be was… disturbing, but there were more important things. He sighed. “All you had to do was keep him at bay until you could take off; it wasn’t even that difficult a task! But you thought a merely locked door would _stop_ him? You didn’t even put the particle barrier up! You knew the enemy was at your door, and you all might as well have thrown this entire castle open and prostrated yourselves before him, like asjik for slaughter.”

The motion was so quick that Haxus missed it, but Pidge’s weapon was wrapped firmly around his chest and upper arms, and in short order, the other two had their weapons pointed at him. The Yellow one looked unsure, but that was a cold comfort. How had he slipped up?

“You couldn’t have known the particle barrier wasn’t up from inside Keith’s room,” Pidge said, almost casual, but sharper and harder than luxite, “so you really did sneak around and let him in. Why?” 

Now Haxus understood why someone so young was so respected by the rest. The intellect behind that small, weak-looking frame was almost frightening. He gritted his teeth and bowed his head. “Because his victory was _assured_. I sought protection from you and it was woefully inadequate. How did such inexperienced… _children_ end up in charge of the most powerful weapon the universe has ever known? You can’t even defend yourselves, much less anything else. You didn’t put up the particle barrier, set proximity alarms outside, or even post a rotating guard. You all went to _sleep_.” 

The Yellow one shifted, weapon lowering a little. “Okay, when you put it like that, it’s a pretty glaring mistake on our parts, but why didn’t you, like, tell Keith? You were obviously uh— with him. In at least the biblical sense, and now I think I need to wash my brain because I might have pictured that and I really don’t want to picture that.” 

The Yellow one’s gaze was directed downwards, and with a hot sting of embarrassment, Haxus realized that at some point he’d moved his hand to press protectively over his stomach. There was no point in moving it back now, so he just gritted his teeth harder. “Not even Keith would have trusted me about that. There would have been too much time spent looking for ulterior motives, arguing over the necessity. Why would an enemy captive help you all?” 

“But you’re not—“ the Yellow one started to say, but was interrupted by Lance. 

“Hunk! No sympathy for the prisoner!” Lance’s eyes were narrowed, but he smelled more nervous than angry. 

Hunk winced. “…actually, yeah, I think I can see where you’re coming from.” 

His weapon shifted back to a small Bayard, but the other two were still holding weapons on him. Pidge frowned. “Alright, so why didn’t you just do it yourself? You obviously know technology pretty well to be able to clone Rover’s signature.” 

“Would it have appeared to be anything but sabotage to any of you, _especially_ the Alteans? And what then? I’d be ejected and left with _him_ at best, and I’m certain the Alteans would jump on a chance to kill me.” 

Hunk looked like he was about to object, but faltered. The other two didn’t even argue. Pidge put one hand to his head as if he had a headache. “Alright. So, Keith’s definitely captured. Shiro and Coran are missing and we can presume captured. Allura’s taking care of stopping the launch and we know what she’d vote. I’m gonna vote tentatively trusting this guy, because what he’s said makes logical sense. In as far as stupid emotional decisions make logical sense, anyway. We’re also kind of limited on resources right now, and an extra hand will help. You two?”

“Uh…” Hunk turned to Haxus. “If we trust you, will you actually help us?” 

“ _If_ you trust me, yes.” Haxus fought to keep even the slightest hint of happiness out of his expression. “If you don’t, I expect my attempts at help will end up worthless.” 

Hunk looked at him for another long moment. “Alright. I vote tentative trust too.” 

“ _Hell_ no.” Lance crossed his forearms in front of his torso before seeming to remember that he’d been holding a gun on Haxus. “I’m with Allura. No trusting the guy who just admitted he played us. And before you go saying Keith would vote yes, remember that they’re fucking. Of course he’s gonna vote to keep getting his dick wet.” 

“But Shiro would vote yes,” Hunk said, “I just don’t know about Coran.” 

“Probably another no, which leaves us right back where we started.” Pidge made a thoughtful noise and then sighed. “So what the hell do we do with him?” 

Keith had made that aborted move to kill him. They’d all agreed to treat him ‘humanely’ whatever that actually meant besides ‘not like an enemy’ and they were even voting on whether or not to trust him. It was what he wanted, but it was so foolish. Maybe he could take a gamble that he never would have considered among other Galra. “If you won’t trust me, kill me. A shot to the head would be quick and relatively painless. It’s better than the alternative.” 

“Alright! Fine!” Lance sounded almost angry and lifted his weapon. Haxus took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

Nothing happened. When he opened his eyes again, all three were staring at him. It took everything he had not to tremble in relief. Then Pidge’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the alternative?” 

“The Emperor was willing to give me a chance to prove myself, because he believed he could hold Keith’s offspring as hostages to ensure his obedience. So he only stripped me of my rank and revoked the privilege of being able to choose whether I brooded and who the sire would be. Permanently.” Haxus took a deep breath. “But now that I’ve assisted you in escaping, instead of making sure there was no chance you could interfere with Sendak’s plans, I’m sure he’ll no longer overrule Sendak’s planned punishment.” 

“‘Only?’ That… That sounds pretty bad. How is it an only?” Hunk smelled of compassion and sadness. “Also, wow, that’s cold. Using kids as hostages like that, I mean.” 

“Sendak’s plan was to turn me over to the fleet to be used for their pleasure until I suffered a traumatic flush, and then I would be made a bordello slave.” Haxus’s voice threatened to crack and he let it. Strength was not the best option here, it seemed. If making them care would give him an edge, he’d allow them to see cracks in his armor, even if they were nowhere near risking the structural integrity of his strength.

“Traumatic flush?” Hunk was the one that seemed to care the most. 

Haxus didn’t want to explain, but it would help his case. “An unfertilized or dead egg will be mostly reabsorbed, but not all of it can be. What’s left will always be flushed. A natural flush occurs after labor, or after a brooding period where no eggs are fertilized. The resulting change-over of the uterine fluid has a positive effect on health. But significant trauma, mental or physical, can force a spontaneous flush of otherwise healthy eggs. Severe injury, malnutrition, or… rape are the likely culprits.” 

There was silence, and then Pidge muttered, so quiet that Haxus had to concentrate to hear it. “Oh my god. Forcing miscarriages and sexual slavery… Oh my god.” 

He was still for a moment more, then grimaced. “And I’m going to guess that the consequences would have been more or less the same if you hadn’t tried to help him? So why did you help him?” 

Haxus stopped nodding and almost groaned. “Loyalty and victory. Proving strength against adversity. Handing over a prize without any work on his part, so he can claim the glory. It should have been rewarded. It should have been enough to overlook—“ He hissed a breath, aware of how close he’d come to a mistake in wording. “—what the rest of them call a shame. _Has_ been enough, for so many other soldiers. Instead he promised punishment.” 

“Wow, I don’t like you, but even I think that’s an asshole move on his part,” Lance said. “Still doesn’t answer what we do with you though.” 

Pidge grimaced. “Yeah it does. He’s _screwed_ no matter what at this point. So we let him help us, because that’s the only way he’s less screwed.” 

The weapon was suddenly gone, and Pidge fixed him with a glare, scent radiating protectiveness. “But understand this, if you even hint at playing both sides again, I’ll make sure every single Galra in this universe knows exactly what you did. And then we kick you out.” 

That was frightening in its simplicity. It would leave him with nowhere to go without facing what Sendak had planned or worse, and no one to rely on, not even (other) rebels. It was the perfect incentive to behave. Haxus didn’t think smiling was an appropriate response, but he nodded. “I understand perfectly. And I must say, someday you’ll be spoiled for choice, with plenty of would-be mothers competing for your attention.”

Pidge’s expression and scent went so confused for a moment and then he snapped his mouth closed. “Okay! Not even touching on that topic. That means you too, Lance. Come on. We’ve got some robots to destroy.” 

Haxus didn’t have any issue keeping pace, and tuned out Lance’s complaints. Destroying a few sentries sounded like an excellent way to burn off frustration and stress right now.

* * *

Sendak busied himself with consoles and readings, and Keith worked on carefully getting himself upright without alerting the big-eared Galra to his knife. He didn’t know what Haxus was planning, or even what side he was really on anymore, but he’d take his knife and figure out the details later. 

Eventually he got himself into a sitting position, knife in one hand behind his back. Was it sharp enough to damage the cuffs? He didn’t know, but Shiro might. So Keith leaned against Shiro, shifting so that Shiro could feel his knife. Shiro stiffened, and then his scent went warm and affectionate as he took the knife from Keith. “We’ll make it out of this, Keith. Patience…” 

“—yields focus, I know.” It made Keith smile, because it was true. Pidge and Allura were free. He was with Shiro, and Haxus had given them a weapon. Maybe Haxus would even free the others (part of him hissed that it was wishful thinking). 

But they’d caught Sendak’s attention, and the smugness of his scent was foul in Keith’s nose. He laughed. “You’ve just given me a way to control you, Champion. I can scent your affection from here. It’s hopeless and soon you’ll all be delivered to Emperor Zarkon. In fact, perhaps you should start practicing. I know that you know the salute. Say it.” 

Shiro’s face went pale, but he tensed his shoulders and glared. “No.” 

Sendak laughed. “Wrong answer.” 

Suddenly Keith was in the grip of that huge hand again, being dragged across the floor and scraping his shoulder. He bared his teeth and snarled in Sendak’s face before he was dropped. Sendak was casually asking Shiro to do the salute again, but Keith had bigger problems. He _wanted_ Shiro to say no, but Keith knew it would end up hurting him and then Shiro would feel guilty. 

Shiro’s no was a lot quieter this time, and Sendak’s grin showed every one of his teeth. 

Keith was screaming before he even really connected the flickering light to _electricity_ , and when the jolt ended, he flopped on the floor, feeling like his brain had been disconnected from his muscles. 

“Vrepit Sa…” 

“I can’t hear you, Champion.” 

“Vrepit Sa!”

* * *

His armor had been denied, and Pidge had fitted him with energy cuffs that could be activated remotely “just in case” but he had his sword, and that was all that Haxus needed. He’d snuck up on one and downed it already, and Lance was lining up a shot around a corner. The Paladin was a fairly good shot, if not the best trained, Haxus could admit to himself. Perhaps if all ended acceptably he’d offer to teach them a few things about combat. Champion aside, they could all probably benefit from his experience in one way or another. 

The sentry went down in a single shot and they moved out. The hunting felt intensely good, and Haxus only regretted that there’d be nothing to bring back to— Damn, he was letting brooding hormones get in the way again. To distract himself from the real distraction, Haxus spoke up. “Three more, unless Sendak was able to repair one.” 

Pidge hardly looked back as they darted around a corner and down another hallway. Faintly he could hear a voice giving Pidge directions, but the helmet obscured it enough that he wasn’t going to understand the words without a lot of effort. But Pidge could multi-task well enough. “What’re the chances of that?” 

“Poor. The others we salvaged were all scrap. Given time I might have been able to jury rig one or two at most together from the parts, but Sendak had wanted them as decoys. Do you have any way to potentially track the sentries so we can find them more quickly?” 

“Not without alerting Sendak to us, no,” Pidge said as they paused at a doorway. “Okay, in here. We want to turn off the particle barrier, just in case.” 

There were two sentries inside the room, and the energy arcs were worrying. Through a clever application of a hologram, Pidge distracted them and made room for himself and the other two to dispatch them. One left. 

Then, Sendak’s voice. “Haxus! Why haven’t you returned yet? Securing the other three should have been a simple task!” 

It was a risk, but he had no other way, so Haxus gestured at a panel and pantomimed answering the contact. Pidge frowned but then nodded. Haxus flicked on the comm. “The Green one was not in his room, sir. I’m looking for a trail now.” 

There was a pause. “It appears more that you’ve begun heading towards where one of the sentries has cornered the Princess. Why is that, Haxus?” 

“Coincidence, sir.” 

“Let me remind you that I have your new partner here with me,” Sendak’s voice was so smooth and smug.

The hoarse scream could only be Keith, and everything in Haxus wanted to break and rush up there. “Keith!” 

“Will you follow my orders or not? I don’t care to show patience.” 

“I’ll kill you—“ That was a mistake, and Haxus knew it, but all he wanted in that moment was to rip into Sendak with claws and teeth. 

Sendak laughed. “Do you know what I smell off them, Haxus? You were really _just_ in time, weren’t you? Since you denied me the chance to breed you, and I worked up quite the appetite at the thought, maybe I should breed your pretty little partner instead. I’ll show you what you missed out on while they trill so desperately for me. It will pass the time after we launch quite pleasantly—“ 

Haxus was marching back the way he came when Hunk grabbed his shoulder. He bared his teeth but stopped. It was a bad idea and he knew it. It was a bad idea, but Sendak was threatening Keith (and damn him, he had begun thinking of Keith as a partner). 

“He’s trying to piss you off so you stop thinking and rush in, dude.” Hunk smelled stressed, fearful, but his logic was sound. 

Pidge was standing at the other end of the room. “And once he launches, we’re screwed. We’ve got to go help Allura first!” 

They were right. Haxus knew that, so he gritted his teeth and followed. A single sentry wouldn’t even be difficult, because it might pin down one person, but a group was impossible. The Altean princess was crouched behind a panel and had been grazed at one point, but the sentry was hardly two steps from the entry. Haxus didn’t even hesitate as he cut its head clean off. 

The system was familiar under his fingertips, and Pidge was quick to join him. Haxus pointed out one of the readings, “We can overload and freeze the system, and then disconnect—“

What had hit him, Haxus wasn’t sure, but it left him with shoulders hanging precariously over nothingness, and spots in his vision. The shouting was distant and muddled, and Haxus knew he had to fight against unconsciousness for— “…Keith…”

* * *

Keith felt almost sick. At least he wasn’t being electrocuted right this second, but the way Sendak had just been talking about him— Oh god. No. _No._

But Sendak apparently had bigger things on his plate, because alarms were going off and he was swearing things that didn’t translate. Keith just wanted to be near Shiro, because everything hurt and Shiro’s presence was always like a balm when he hurt. Shiro leaned into him when he managed to cross the distance torturously on his knees, and Keith shivered in delayed fear. They were running out of time. 

But Shiro whispered in his ear. “Ready?” 

Was he? Didn’t matter. “Yeah.” 

A second later, Shiro’s hand (he’d gotten out of the cuffs somehow!) sliced through his cuffs, and his knife was back in his hand. They converged on Sendak together, yelling.

It felt _good_ , fighting at Shiro’s side, and the aches and pain and fear fell away. Keith was going to be so sore later but— Didn’t matter. Kicking Sendak’s ass did. 

But Sendak was way more skilled than either of them, and they got hits in, but so did he. Where were the others? Backup would be so great right— 

Pidge! 

With the severing of Sendak’s prosthetic arm, and a shot from Lance, the playing field was more even, and Allura was doing something to one of the control panels. When she shouted for Keith, Keith kicked Sendak, and something told him to move. 

He moved just in time and Sendak howled as a barrier came up around him, locking him in with the purple crystal. 

They’d done it! The ship was theirs again. Keith was laughing, fighting exhaustion, and both Pidge and Lance congratulated him on his skills. 

Something was missing. 

It hit hard, and suddenly Keith didn’t feel so cheerful anymore. “Where’s Hunk and Haxus?”

* * *

Epilogue

The hallway was quiet. Keith was… not.

Well, technically, he wasn’t making any noise, but inside his head was a howling maelstrom. It was a happy ending, wasn’t it? Allura and Hunk had gotten a new crystal, and they were on the way to free the planet-creature-thing it had come from right now. Coran had been healed, and was working on fixing all the damage that the Galra crystal had done. Pidge was “officially” a girl now (Keith respected why she’d felt the need to hide it for a while), and _that_ all made sense at last. Hunk had new purpose, and Lance wasn’t trying to piss him off as much. It helped that Lance had just gotten himself in deep shit by thinking with his dick, so he couldn’t judge so freely anymore.

And Shiro was okay. A little too quiet sometimes, but okay. Mostly, Shiro was worrying himself sick about Keith, which was business as usual for his big brother, but still only just okay.

Keith wasn’t okay. He’d been healed too, of things he didn’t even think _could_ be healed anymore, and soon he’d be healed even of things that hadn’t quite grown in because of his awkward DNA. (His stomach _itched_ , but Coran had told him to keep his hands off.) But the more he’d healed, the worse it was. Because he was being healed into something that wasn’t—

Keith was Galra (half-Galra, Coran had said. “Probably.”), and Allura wouldn’t even look at him. He kind of deserved it, because he’d done a whole hell of a lot of thinking with his dick that night and almost gotten them all killed, but… it hurt. 

He was Galra. He was the enemy, and nobody was looking at him like they used to. He was _just_ getting the hang of maybe they’d be friends, and now… what? Keith didn’t even know. And he had so many questions, all of them screaming in his head at once. Where did he really come from? Was his dad as human as he’d looked? Who was his mom? How’d she get to Earth and why? (How had she gotten ahold of a space-metal knife if she _hadn’t_ come from space?) Why had she left and not taken him (which if she was from space, Galra Empire, he kinda got that)? Why did he look as human as he did? Why he was growing fucking purple _stripes_ now that some of the ‘rough spots’ in his DNA were being evened out so he couldn’t even recognize himself in the mirror? Who was he, really?

But what _hurt_ , why he was in this hallway… “I miss you. Why do I fucking miss you?” 

The glass of the pod was cool against his forehead, and of course, Haxus didn’t answer. Allura had refused anything else, and the worst part was, Keith couldn’t even logically argue. Haxus had blown up the crystal, let Sendak in, and it was half Keith’s fault. And yeah, Haxus had turned on everything Empire for (probably) good and been a big help, but. _But_. They couldn’t trust him. And now, even if they let him out, he probably couldn’t trust them. Being shoved into a cryopod hadn’t been part of the deal, Keith was sure. 

And Keith didn’t know what to do. Haxus was possibly pregnant (egg pregnant?) with Keith’s— And if he was, it would take a whole other Galra to make sure the babies lived. Switches couldn’t safely carry more than one in their pouches (space kangaroos; why was Keith part space kangaroo?) and two was a huge risk, and three was impossible. And if Haxus got let out, Keith was pretty sure he’d start thinking with his… his hole as well as his dick. His body was getting ready to start making its own eggs, and it was so weird (terrifying, honestly), but Coran hadn’t known if it was Keith’s first or second or what, and something something better if he did it natural at least once. 

The missing was intense, and maybe it was hormones or whatever, but it didn’t stop the panicky tightness in his chest whenever he caught a whiff of Haxus’s scent in his room (and _not_ smelling it was almost worse) that was old and fading and a sign of Haxus not being there. 

And—

“I hate that I miss you, you bastard.” 

The thing was, Haxus could be useful. Haxus might know where Pidge’s family was (finding out she’d been planning on leaving that night had been a… thing), or he could know supply routes and station locations and ship numbers. 

Keith swallowed against the lump in his throat, wishing that he couldn’t make arguments for both sides so easily. And he really couldn’t trust his own judgement where Haxus was involved. 

His hand was hovering over the control panel for the cryopod. He just had to reach out. Keith looked at Haxus’s face, serene and too blank, with a gash on his forehead from Allura’s staff, half-healed.

Keith looked back at his hand and flexed his fingers. 

Haxus’s face. 

His hand. 

Feelings. Logic. Choices.

Haxus’s face.

His hand. 

Keith pressed his fingertips against the switch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was always meant to have an ambiguous ending, but as I was writing it, I realized that I _could_ turn it into a prologue to a longer thing someday. I'm not sure if anyone would be interested in reading such a fic, however. If anyone is interested, make sure to tell me!


End file.
